Luzerne County ballot adjudication to resume Monday

Under the observation of multiple attorneys Friday, Luzerne County’s volunteer citizen Election Board methodically accepted 617 Nov. 8 general election provisional ballots and rejected 40.

It was the third day of adjudication, and the board spent six hours reviewing the ballots Friday, with county sheriff deputies called in on the Veterans Day holiday to provide security at the entrance to the Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre and inside the third-floor courtroom where the adjudication is taking place.

A major question was how many ballots must still be reviewed by the bipartisan election board, particularly amid some estimates that as many as 20,000 could be outstanding.

County Acting Election Director Beth McBride told the board a fair estimate would be 1,200 to 1,500 outstanding. Subtracting those processed Friday, that leaves approximately 543 to 843 left to review.

Included in the remaining batch are provisional ballots cast at polling places between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on election night. The court approved the extended voting hours to help accommodate voters turned away due to shortages of paper for ballot marking devices at polling places, which caused widespread issues.

While several attorneys were present throughout the adjudication, primary interaction with the board was handled by attorney Neil O’Donnell, representing the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, and Britain Henry, on behalf of the Republican National Committee.

Although many inquiries were made throughout the process, only three ballots were contested Friday, by Henry.

These three provisional ballots were from voters who had been notified of the option to appear at the polling place to cast a ballot provisionally because their previously submitted mail ballots did not have outer envelope dates as required, board members said.

Henry said later he objected based on general disagreements with the way this process, known as curing, is being handled in the state.

County Assistant Solicitor Paula Radick said the three ballots must be segregated, unopened, pending a legal determination.

Party input during the adjudication came from county Democratic Chairwoman Kathy Bozinski and Dallas Borough resident and Ward 1 judge of elections Jess Morgan, representing the county Republican Party.

Most of the provisional ballots reviewed Friday were from voters who indicated they did not receive requested mail ballots, board members said.

The bureau provided records on each voter to verify they had not submitted a mail ballot, and four provisional ballots were rejected because the records showed a mail ballot had been received from them.

The board rejected 33 provisional ballots because they did not contain an outer envelope signature from the voter and the judge of elections or minority/majority inspector.

However, the board unanimously accepted two in this category because the judge of elections wrote a note taking responsibility for failing to obtain signatures.

In another outer envelope decision, the board unanimously agreed to accept provisional ballots if the outer envelope and inner privacy envelope were not sealed.

Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said voters may be hesitant to lick the envelopes, and seals may come undone during transport.

Board Vice Chairman Jim Mangan said voter intent is not an issue as it could be with mail ballots because the provisional ballots are provided to the voter inside the polling place.

Board members Audrey Serniak and Danny Schramm concurred, saying the provisional ballots are kept in a secure area in the polling place and then placed in the judge’s return bag.

Board member Alyssa Fusaro also confirmed the provisional ballots are placed in another larger sealed envelope when they are returned to the election bureau.

The board was faced with a decision on how to handle six provisional ballots that had signatures on the inner privacy envelope.

Even though the privacy envelopes are not supposed to have voter names or identifying marks, Morgan pointed out she had two provisional voters sign the privacy envelopes because her polling place did not receive outer envelopes. Morgan argued those ballots should still be counted, and the board ended up unanimously agreeing that all six in that category should be accepted.

There were 17 provisional ballots that normally would be tossed because they were not inside the required inner secrecy envelopes. However, board members discussed reports no inner envelopes were available. As a result, the board unanimously agreed to accept the 17 due to extenuating circumstances.

Approximately five hours in, the board members were simultaneously engrossed in slicing open stacks of secrecy envelopes and removing the ballots inside so they could be flattened and inspected.

Mangan started humming a tune as board members discussed how they are coping with the pressures of long hours and a lack of sleep to get through the election and adjudication.

“Although we disagree sometimes, we all get along,” Williams told her board colleagues.

The board plans to resume adjudication at 9 a.m. Monday. Adjudication is open to the public, and the Penn Place building is located at 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilkes-Barre.

As adjudication proceeds and more ballots are accepted by the board, the county is regularly updating the unofficial results through its online database on the main page at luzernecounty.org.

The most recent results update was shortly after noon on Thursday, and results from ballots accepted Friday will be uploaded on Monday morning, the board said.