Luzerne County Election Bureau Deputy Director Dino Ninotti, at rear, prepares to retrieve mail ballots from a drop box at the county Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre last week.
File photo
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High voter turnout is projected for the Nov. 3 general election, but it’s still unclear how that will be reflected at polling places due to the popularity of mail ballots.
In the last 2016 presidential general election, Luzerne County had 205,332 registered voters and 137,549 ballots cast, for a turnout of 66.99%, records show.
Flashing back more, the prior two presidential elections garnered the following county voter response, archived results show:
• 2012
Registered voters: 194,137
Ballots cast: 126,326
Turnout: 65.07%
• 2008
Registered voters: 187,844
Ballots cast: 138,076
Turnout: 73.51%
Based on this past record and other observations, county Election Board solicitor Michael Butera is predicting a 69% turnout on Nov. 3.
He expects the voting format to end up about half by mail ballot and the other through in-person ballots cast at polling places on Election Day.
“The polls will be busy, but not nearly as busy as they were in 2016,” Butera said. “There were some very big lines back in 2016.”
Still, voters should expect some waiting because it is the first time the county is using new electronic ballot marking devices for all voters, and more sanitizing will be required due to the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
Poll workers also may need extra time to verify that voters did not already receive a mail ballot, he said. Voters who received but never cast mail ballots have the option to submit that material to be voided or “spoiled” so they can vote on the machines — another step that will require additional processing, he said.
“There will be some issues on Election Day that will cause lines, but I don’t think the lines should be too bad because so many are voting by mail,” Butera said.
County Election Director Shelby Watchilla also said she expects lines.
“The lines will be less about voter turnout and more about the impact of current protocols, both with the pandemic and new voting procedures as referenced in state law,” Watchilla said.
The county has issued more than 69,400 mail ballots to voters who requested them to date, which equates to approximately 31.6% of the 219,333 county residents registered to vote.
If the turnout is 69% as predicted by Butera, 151,340 county voters will be casting ballots.
Mail voting
Mailed ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day must be counted if they are received by 5 p.m. Nov. 6.
Hand-delivered ballots must be in the county election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Tuesday is the deadline to request a mail ballot.
That also is the deadline to both request and cast a mail ballot in the same visit at the election bureau at the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre. On-demand voting is only available to those who did not already seek a mail ballot. Voters interested in that option must visit Penn Place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 or 27 and expect a wait, officials said.
The county is extending the hours for voters to drop off their completed Nov. 3 general election mail ballots in a box inside the Penn Place lobby at 20 N. Pennsylvania Avenue.
Starting Monday (Oct. 26), the lobby will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays for mail ballot drop-offs through Nov. 3.
In addition, drop box service will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Monitored by security workers, the box is located in front of the security desk in the main lobby.
Voters also now have the option to bring their ballots to the counter at the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre post offices, where the ballots will be segregated and picked up by county sheriff deputies daily.
The Wilkes-Barre post office is at 300 S. Main St., while the Hazleton one is at 231 N. Wyoming St.
Mail voters are reminded to place the completed ballots in the provided secrecy envelope and then place that envelope in the postage-paid official mailing envelope. Voters also must sign the attestation on the back of the official mailing envelope.
In-person voting
A list of all polling locations appears in this special section, and they will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters unsure of the municipality, ward or district needed to identify their polling place can check their voter registration status online at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov.
Voters also may call 570-825-1715 or email [email protected] for questions about polling locations or any other election matters.
Personal protective equipment — masks, gloves and hand sanitizer — will be available at all polling places. Voters also will receive a take-home stylus that can be used on the poll books at sign-in and on the ballot marking devices.
Voters will be asked to wear masks but won’t be barred from voting if they refuse.
First-time voters should bring proper identification materials. A list of identification options is posted under voter registration link at votespa.com.
On the new touchscreen machines, voters will make selections as they did with the old devices. But instead of touching a screen box to lock in their votes, they will receive a paper printout to verify their selections before they feed the paper into a tabulator to be read and saved in compliance with a state paper-trail mandate.
Voters must check the paper ballot for accuracy and should notify a poll worker if there are any mistakes in their choices. If warranted, the poll worker would void the ballot and allow that voter to mark a new one.
For the first time in the upcoming general election, voters who received mail ballots will be permitted to cast regular ballots on the electronic machines at their polling places if they bring in the never-returned, mail-in ballot, secrecy envelope and outer mailing envelope that had been sent by the county so the packet can be voided/spoiled.
If all three items are not presented, a paper provisional ballot will be required at the polls. Provisional ballots are reviewed last and allow the county to verify a voter did not already cast a ballot by mail, officials said. These ballots are marked by hand.
When completed, voters must insert the provisional ballot in a provided privacy envelope and seal it. The privacy envelope is then placed into another outer envelope. To be counted, this outer envelope must be signed by the voter, signed by a poll worker and then signed again by the voter when it is returned to the poll worker, officials stressed.
To help voters prepare, sample ballots for each precinct are posted under the bureau’s “2020 general election” link.
Residents interested in serving as poll workers can still apply through a link on the election page at www.luzernecounty.org, although the county may not need additional assistance, Watchilla said.
While the county appears to have enough workers at this time, vacancies sometimes arise shortly before the election if some drop out, she said.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.