Luzerne County issued 25,288 April 23 primary election mail ballots

Luzerne County’s election bureau issued 25,288 April 23 primary election mail ballots to voters who requested them before this week’s deadline, county acting election director Emily Cook said Wednesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly half — 11,748 — had returned their ballots, Cook said.

With the primary now less than a week away, Cook is advising the remaining voters to deposit their ballots in a county drop box instead of relying on mail to ensure they arrive in the bureau in time to be counted. Ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks do not count.

The drop box locations and availability leading up to the primary:

• Misericordia University, Passan Hall, 100 Lake St., Dallas — 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday (April 22).

• Hazleton Exchange Building, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton — 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday (April 22).

• Wright Manor (main lobby), 460 S. Main Road, Mountain Top — 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday (April 22).

• Penn Place (main lobby), 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre — 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Monday (April 22) and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day. In addition, a countertop box is available in the election bureau on the second floor at Penn Place.

Penn Place is the only drop box site available on Election Day.

Mail voters receive instructions, a ballot, a yellow secrecy envelope and a white outer return envelope that contains the voter’s name and a label with a bar code that, when scanned, identifies that voter in the state’s database. The yellow secrecy envelope says “official election ballot.”

After filling out their ballot, voters must place it in the yellow envelope, seal it and then put that envelope inside the one with the label/bar code to be returned to the county.

Voters must sign and date the outer envelope where indicated. The date refers to when the ballot was filled out, not a birth date.

An accurate date is important because a federal appeals court panel recently upheld enforcement of the technical mandate.

Cook said there appears to be fewer missing inner secrecy envelopes (“naked ballots”) than in prior elections — an improvement she largely attributes to the state’s decision to make the inner envelope yellow as part of a new redesign of mail ballot materials to reduce voter errors and confusion.

These changes include more understandable instructions, highlighting of fields the voters must complete on the outer envelope and coloring to make it easier for voters to distinguish the envelopes.

A hole punch also appeared on the outer envelope for ballot processors to instantly verify missing inner secrecy envelopes.

“The yellow envelope seems to be making quite a difference,” Cook said.

However, she has spotted a few voters failing to fill out the required date. The first two digits of the year are pre-filled as part of the redesign, but Cook said voters must still add the month, day and finish the year.

“I’d like to remind voters to make sure they are filling out the date in its entirety,” she said.

Following state guidance, the election bureau cancels ballots in the state tracking system if its ballot sorting machine detects missing voter signatures or handwritten date issues on outer envelopes or the absence of the secrecy envelope.

The bureau alerts impacted voters if they provided an email address on their mail ballot application, Cook said.

Those receiving alerts of voided deficient ballots will be able to appear at the election bureau to submit a new ballot or fill out a paper provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day. Provisional ballots are reviewed last by the board to verify nobody is voting twice.

Voters can check the status of their mail ballot — including whether it is canceled due to fatal defects — through the online tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov, Cook said.

Mail ballot voters also reserve the option to vote on the electronic ballot marking device at their polling place on Election Day if they turn in their entire mail ballot package — the ballot and both envelopes — to be voided at the polls.

Voters with questions about mail ballots, or any election matter, can contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.