A few Luzerne County mail voters report receipt of two replacement ballots instead of one

Three voters in Luzerne County’s 119th Legislative District received two replacement ballots instead of one as part of a reissuance to correct a misspelling of state Rep. Alec Ryncavage’s name, county Controller Walter Griffith said Tuesday.

County Election Director Emily Cook said any impacted voters must contact the election bureau to determine which ballot and envelope with a bar code should be returned.

Voters are advised to call the bureau at 570-825-1715 or email elections@luzernecounty.org, specifying “duplicate ballot” on the email subject line.

There is no way for voters to independently distinguish the correct and incorrect one, Cook said.

Cook said she is only aware of the three reported Tuesday, but there may be more.

The error stems from a single day, Oct. 11, when the bureau stopped issuing ballots in the 119th District because of the spelling error, Cook said. When ballots were reissued to all 6,700 mail ballot voters in that district, a batch that had been on hold the day of the halting also was included, Cook said.

As a result, these voters received both an old canceled ballot and a reissued new one, with both labeled as reissued ones, Cook said.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said further explanation on the cause will be released once it is determined.

Griffith learned of the situation because he is manning an on-demand voting screening station in the county’s Penn Place lobby in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

He said three voters separately brought in both newly received ballots to inform the county and seek guidance.

Dominion Voting Systems, the county’s voting equipment supplier, had taken responsibility for the “Tyncavage” misspelling, citing human error, and agreed to cover the cost of the corrected ballots.

The county is urging voters to complete and return the replacement ballots, but the county election board is prepared to accept selections for Alec “Tyncavage” during its post-election adjudication if voters only cast the original ballot.

Griffith said the two-ballot situation is unfortunate because 119th voters are already dealing with the reissuance of ballots.

“My concern is we’re confusing the heck out of people,” Griffith said.

Ryncavage said by text Tuesday that some voters have not yet received replacement ballots.

The election bureau has said 119th District voters should contact the bureau if they have not received replacement ballots by the end of this week.

All completed mail ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks do not count in meeting that deadline.

In addition to regular mail, two mail ballot drop boxes are available:

• Broad Street Exchange, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton: weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Nov. 1 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 4. This box is not available on Election Day.

• Penn Place main lobby, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29; 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the other weekdays; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. In addition, the box is available on weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Oct. 26-27 and Nov. 2-3).