Luzerne County May 19 primary election results certified, show 47,453 ballots cast

Luzerne County’s May 19 primary election results are official because the county Election Board voted to certify them Tuesday.

A total of 47,453 ballots were counted, according to the final tally.

That means approximately 430 ballots were accepted by the board during post-election canvassing and adjudication because the unofficial election night tally was 47,023.

The additions include provisional and mail ballots flagged for further review.

Approximately 175,300 county Republicans and Democrats were eligible to vote on May 19, resulting in a 27% turnout.

Pennsylvania has closed primaries, meaning only Republican and Democratic voters can nominate the candidates who advance to the general election.

Prior county controller Walter Griffith was the lone speaker during public comment Tuesday.

Griffith commended the county election bureau for its successful implementation of paper ballots at polling places, saying that change was “very difficult” and had “a lot of moving parts.” He said he was among those apprehensive about the county’s ability to pull it off, and he was “pleasantly surprised.”

There were “no major problems,” he said, adding he hopes that will continue in the November general election.

The change to hand-marked paper ballots was part of the switch to new leased voting equipment from Hart InterCivic, although an electronic ballot-marking device still had to be set up at each polling place for voters with disabilities.

The county had experimented with paper ballots in the 2023 primary but ended up returning to ballot-marking devices for that year’s general election.

County officials plan to continue using paper ballots, in part to avoid leasing and transporting hundreds of additional electronic ballot-marking devices to polling places.

Griffith told the board he still wants to track data on the number of ballots that had to be voided, or spoiled, because voters picked too many candidates or made other mistakes.

County Election Director Emily Cook said after the meeting, she did not observe any polling places with an unreasonable number of spoiled ballots. There were also no situations where the number of ballots cast and spoiled failed to match the total ballots provided to a precinct, she added.

Election Board Chairwoman Christine Boyle suggested Griffith review adjudication meeting minutes that will be compiled and approved at a future meeting and then notify the board if he still has questions or needs additional information.

Boyle thanked the election bureau, county solicitor’s office, and board colleagues for their work on the primary.

Board Vice Chairman Rick Morelli concurred, saying the bureau now has extensive backup plans in place.

“I think the bureau is in a great spot,” Morelli said.