Voters may have chance to vote at polls if mail ballots defective

After lengthy debate Tuesday, the Luzerne County Election Board decided it will give voters an opportunity to cast a ballot at the polls if a defect is found in their mail ballot on primary election day May 18.

This is known as “curing.”

The Pennsylvania Department of State had informed counties on the eve of the November 2020 general election that they could allow notification to voters on Election Day if their mail ballots were missing a secrecy envelope or containing another defect.

These voters then had the option to “cure” the deficiency by voting with provisional ballots at their polling place.

The concern: voters did not receive this option if their mail ballots were opened too late in the evening because the polls close at 8 p.m.

A list of approximately 120 Luzerne County voters with ballot errors was compiled during the November general, but officials were unsure Tuesday how many were reached and took advantage of the option to vote provisionally in person.

Audrey Serniak, the only current election board member who was serving at that time, said Tuesday she had been “torn” on the issue and thought it was “kind of discriminatory” because mail ballots are processed by municipality alphabetically. Those in municipalities starting with letters at the end of the alphabet have less chance of being contacted, she said.

By law, the county cannot start unsealing mail ballot envelopes and scanning the ballots, known as pre-canvassing, until 7 a.m. on Election Day.

Three board members ended up voting Tuesday to offer an opportunity for citizens to cure their mail ballots on Election Day to the extent possible as determined by the majority of the election board present: Serniak, Richard Nardone and Denise Williams.

Board member Missy Thomas was absent, and remaining board member Kathryn Roth voted no.

“I think if you are not guaranteeing you will do it for everyone, it shouldn’t be done at all,” Roth said.

“It’s that or none, and I say try to do as many as you can,” said Williams, the board chair.

Nardone said he respects Roth’s position but believes the board should “make an effort” to the best of its ability.

It’s tough to predict how many mail ballots will be processed on Election Day.

In the Nov. 3 general, county Manager C. David Pedri assigned additional county workers to be sworn in to process ballots the day after the election, which allowed the more than 57,000 mail ballots to be counted by around 8 p.m. on Nov. 4. More than 50 employees from multiple departments assisted with the processing, he had said.

Approximately 22,800 voters have requested mail ballots for the upcoming primary, said county Election Director Bob Morgan.

Pedri said Tuesday night he tentatively plans to assign around 30 workers — all will be sworn in — to assist with the mail ballots on May 18. This crew will attempt to process them all by election night, but Pedri said that cannot be guaranteed.

As the processers encounter ballots with deficiencies, the election bureau will prepare and provide a list of impacted voters to registered political parties so they can attempt to contact the voters, said county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo. Her office is working on a process or solution to reach unaffiliated voters if any arise.

Williams proposed taking the curing a step further by asking the election bureau to start identifying voters who did not sign and date their outer mailing envelopes as required so they could be notified before May 18, noting some other counties have enacted this measure.

Nardone said the election bureau, with a staff of six, does not have the resources to take on that task.