Luzerne County Courthouse
File photo
Luzerne County’s Election Bureau finalized the Nov. 7 general election ballot Monday and gave the go-ahead to start programming the information for electronic ballot marking devices, the administration said.
Ballot content had to be set by Monday for the election bureau to stay on track with the formulating, proofing and testing required before ballots can be printed for mail ballot voters and programmed for the electronic devices used by voters at the polls, county officials have said.
Finalization was possible because the Pennsylvania Secretary of State certified state-level candidates on Friday evening, the bureau said.
County litigation is still pending over an election board reconstitution ballot referendum, but officials say it is now too late to get the referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot without potentially harmful disruption to election preparations. Council must decide whether to keep pursuing that action for a future ballot or discontinue it.
Dominion Voting Systems Inc., the county’s voting system supplier, is handling the programming.
The bureau announced Monday’s deadline had been met in a weekly update intended to help the public track and understand election preparations.
The report will be posted under the bureau’s page at luzernecounty.org.
In the latest update, the election bureau said it is planning 24 in-person training classes for poll workers and looking into expanding options by posting additional virtual training sessions online.
The bureau is seeking a county resident interested in conducting training because the prior consultant is no longer able to perform the work due to another commitment, county Election Director Eryn Harvey had said. The compensation and schedule are still under consideration.
Harvey urged anyone interested to send an email with their qualifications and contact information to elections@luzernecounty.org.
As with prior reports, this week’s update lists a lengthy table of election preparation tasks, their status of completion and which workers are responsible for them.
Some public reminders in the update:
• Voters should check their registration or ballot status by going to pavoterservices.pa.gov.
• Oct. 23 is the last day to register to vote in the general election.
• The deadline to apply for mail ballots is Oct. 31.
• Voters with questions about their registration should contact the election bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
