New figures released on Luzerne County voter registration/mail ballot backlog

Luzerne County’s election bureau has 1,200 Nov. 5 general election voter registration applications and 5,300 mail ballot requests to process, according to a status report county Manager Romilda Crocamo released shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday.

The bureau is projecting the remaining 1,200 registrations will be processed by the end of the day, Crocamo said. Monday was the registration deadline.

Its target to catch up on mail ballot applications is this weekend, with the caveat that additional requests for mail ballots will continue arriving until Tuesday’s state deadline, she said.

At Wednesday evening’s election board meeting, Crocamo said there were approximately 2,500 remaining voter registration applications, which means 1,300 were processed by a team of workers by the 4 p.m. Thursday release.

Crocamo said the registration requests awaiting review and approval are both paper and online applications and include new voter registrations and requests for political party and address changes.

She also said some of the requests are duplicates because the voters already are registered but did not opt out of the state’s automatic registration when they renewed their driver’s licenses.

While the number of outstanding mail ballot applications had been unclear during Wednesday’s meeting, Crocamo said later that evening the bureau had processed all mail ballot requests submitted through Monday.

Crocamo said her understanding is that the 5,300 mail ballot requests still awaiting processing came in this week.

As of Wednesday night, the county had issued 51,000 ballots and received 17,000 completed ballots back from voters.

Crocamo said all statutory deadlines will be met.

There’s an urgency to this situation because there must be enough time for voters to receive their mail ballots, complete them and get them physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. Postmarks don’t count in meeting the deadline.

Following release of the new statistics, Crocamo issued a statement expressing deep gratitude for Election Director Emily Cook, Deputy Director Steve Hahn and “all the dedicated election workers who have tirelessly contributed to the democratic process in our community.”

The statement:

“Emily and Steve, along with their team, have gone above and beyond, working long hours to ensure that every vote is counted and every voice is heard.

Their efforts not only uphold the democratic values we cherish but also inspire trust and confidence in our electoral system. It is through the hard work of individuals like Emily and Steve that we can feel secure in the knowledge that our elections are conducted with integrity and transparency.

I commend their exceptional service and dedication to our community. Let us recognize and celebrate the vital role of all election workers who work behind the scenes, ensuring that our democracy thrives.

Thank you, Emily, Steve, and every election worker, for your remarkable contribution to our society. Your hard work does not go unnoticed, and we are truly grateful.”