Luzerne County still updating site for voters to check provisional ballot status

The approximately 3,650 Luzerne County voters who used paper provisional ballots at polling places on Nov. 3 may have to wait for online verification on whether their ballot was accepted by the county election board, said county Election Director Shelby Watchilla.

To update the state’s online database, county election workers must manually complete a multi-step data entry process for each provisional ballot, Watchilla said. There is no barcode that can be instantly scanned to capture data as there was for mail ballots, she said.

Election workers had been focused on entering the provisional data and stayed late Thursday, but coronavirus precautions that took effect Friday for county government buildings and staff will delay completion, Watchilla said.

The county switched to a limited operation schedule through Nov. 29 for non-essential staff due to rising county case counts and three county workers involved in criminal justice matters testing positive.

Watchilla said she will be rotating reduced staff physically in the office during this period, which means fewer workers will be able to concentrate on updating the state’s online provisional search tool. Election employees cannot complete that task while they are working remotely because access to the state election database is only available in the office for security reasons, she said.

The provisional data that must be entered comes from the outer envelopes completed by voters, she said.

Provisional ballots are marked by hand at the polls and counted last because the board must verify these voters are properly registered and did not already submit a mail ballot that would nullify the provisional one.

While the database is still being updated, Watchilla stressed votes from all provisional ballots accepted by the county election board have been factored into the general election results set for certification Monday.

The five-citizen election board reviewed each provisional ballot at the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre, with all proceedings open to observers.

Board members — both Republican and Democrat — ultimately rejected several hundred provisional ballots.

Most denials stemmed from voters failing to place the provisional ballots inside a secrecy envelope and then an outer envelope or failing to sign the outer envelope — the same requirements set for mail ballots based on a court ruling.

For those approved, the ballots were then removed from inner secrecy envelopes, flattened and scanned into the tabulators — a process also performed in view of observers.

All paper ballots fed into the tabulators — provisional, mail and those printed out on electronic ballot marking devices for voter review at the polls — are kept in storage as part of the state’s paper-trail mandate, officials said.

Watchilla said her office has received some inquiries from provisional voters on whether their ballots were accepted. Voters unable to retrieve the information from the online search can email elections@luzernecounty.org, although she stressed responses likely will not be provided until after the county returns to full staffing on Nov. 30.

Voters casting provisional ballots received a ballot number at their polling place that could be used in the state search database, which is posted at votespa.com.

Republican county Councilman Harry Haas asked Watchilla about the online provisional search during last week’s council election inquiry committee meeting.

Updating the state database is important to provide “peace of mind” for provisional voters on whether their ballots were accepted, said Haas, one of four council members on the inquiry committee.

There were more provisional voters than usual in this general because of a change associated with this year’s no-excuse-required mail voting, officials said.

General election voters who received mail ballots had to cast provisional ballots if they opted for in-person voting at their polling place unless they turned in their mail ballot and both envelopes to be voided/spoiled. A Wilkes-Barre Township woman said she handed in the three mail ballot items but was still forced to cast a provisional ballot instead of being permitted to vote on the electronic ballot marking device. Watchilla said the procedural changes will be emphasized again in future poll worker training.

Watchilla told Haas she wishes there was a “simpler way” to update the state’s provisional database for voters to track their status. Many mistakenly believe data conveyance is “instantaneous” once a vote is cast and have no idea of the work that goes on behind the scene, she said.