Luzerne County Election Director Shelby Watchilla demonstrates the new ballot marking device that voters will use for the first time in the April 28 primary.
                                 Submitted photo

Luzerne County Election Director Shelby Watchilla demonstrates the new ballot marking device that voters will use for the first time in the April 28 primary.

Submitted photo

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Luzerne County Republicans picked up 1,153 voters since Jan. 1, while Democrats added 735, according to the latest statistics released at Wednesday’s county election board meeting.

Democrats still outnumber Republicans, but the gap between the two has been shrinking in recent years and is now 26,153, the figures show.

In comparison, the divide between the two parties was 47,669 in 2011.

As previously reported on the topic, area political professors have largely attributed the Republican rise to an aging county population that is becoming more conservative.

There are now 104,916 Democrats and 78,763 Republicans.

Both parties gained about the same number of newly registered voters since Jan. 1 — 375 Republicans and 395 Democrats.

The other additions stemmed from party switches.

To date, 690 Democrats and 88 unaffiliated or other party voters changed their registration to Republican. Another 187 Republicans and 153 voters from other parties or with no affiliation switched to Democrats.

Independent, unaffiliated or other voters cannot cast ballots on April 28 because Pennsylvania has closed primaries.

These numbers are only a snapshot reading because registrations will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. April 13, or 15 days prior to the election. State reforms changed the old registration cut-off of 30 days before elections.

The remaining 232 voters registering since Jan. 1 are Independent or selected another party or no affiliation, bringing that category’s total count to 26,113, the statistics show.

Voting by mail

County Election Director Shelby Watchilla told the board her office has received 773 applications to date from voters choosing to cast their ballots by mail.

In the past, voters had to cite a reason they were unable to appear at the polls on Election Day — such as an illness, travel, work or other obligation — to take advantage of absentee voting. Under new state election reforms, no excuse is needed.

County officials are encouraging voters to consider the new option for convenience or to avoid polling place crowds in the high-turnout presidential election, when the county will be using a new paper-trail system for the first time.

However, a high volume of mail-in ballots may delay the tabulation of final election results another day or so here and in counties across the state because voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to submit these ballots to election offices. County assistant solicitor Michael Butera said he is monitoring proposed state legislation that could allow counties to start tallying results from mail-in ballots earlier.

Starting Thursday, the county will have a new paper-trail machine set up with a generic ballot in the election office for voters interested in practicing. The office is on the second floor of the Penn Place Building, which is Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre, and open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Voters will make selections on computerized ballot-marking devices similar to the way they do now. But instead of touching a screen box to cast the ballot, voters will receive a paper printout to verify their selections before the paper is fed into a tabulator to be read and saved in compliance with a state mandate.

Public education sessions and training for poll workers on the new system will begin next month, Watchilla said.

In other business Wednesday, the election board announced it has launched a new Facebook page to keep the public informed and is planning an on-the-road meeting in Hazleton next month to increase outreach in the county’s southern half.

The Facebook page can be found by searching for the Luzerne County Board of Elections.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.