Luzerne County Election Board approves May 19 primary election ballot

Luzerne County’s Election Board unanimously voted Wednesday to approve the May 19 primary election ballot and two polling place changes.

The ballot approval allows the county Election Bureau to send the ballot information to an outside printer for both mail and in-person voting.

County Election Director Emily Cook said the bureau is on track to forward the ballot information to the printer next week, and the ballots are then typically mailed to voters who requested them within 48 hours.

May 5 is the primary mail ballot distribution deadline, but county officials have worked to send them out sooner so voters have ample time to receive, complete, and return them by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The ballots must be physically in the bureau by that deadline because postmarks do not count.

In last year’s general election, 25,000 county voters requested mail ballots.

Paper ballots will be used for in-person voting at the polls starting with the upcoming primary.

Cook said the county has received new voting equipment from Hart InterCivic that will be used in the primary.

Voters will fill out selections on paper ballots and then feed them into Hart scanners for tallying. Previously, voters made choices on computerized touchscreen ballot-marking devices, printed the ballot for review, and then fed it into a tabulator. A ballot-marking device will still be set up at each polling place for voters with disabilities.

Mandatory poll work training on the Hart system is set to begin on April 21.

The two approved polling place changes for the primary:

• Plains Township Ward 3 voters will cast ballots at the St. Peter and Paul Parish’s Bernadine Hall, 13 Hudson St., instead of the Hillside Itlo Club on Chamberlain Street due to construction.

• Swoyersville Ward 1 voters will switch from the Music Box Dinner Playhouse on Hughes Street to the Maltby Volunteer Fire Co., 253 Owen St., due to a performance at the Music Box.

In other business, Board Vice Chairman Rick Morelli said he is drafting a proposal suggesting a voter transparency pilot program that would collect voter feedback on requests to show their identification. He said he will provide a specific written plan at the May meeting for possible activation in the November general election.