Luzerne County Election Board now poised to certify Nov. 8 general election

A Luzerne County’s Election Board majority is now poised to certify the Nov. 8 general election.

The board was unable to certify the results at a Monday morning meeting because board member Danny Schramm abstained, creating a 2-2 tie.

Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said Schramm notified her after Monday’s meeting and indicated he is now comfortable certifying the results because he received sufficient responses to his lingering questions and concerns.

As a result, Williams said she has scheduled a special meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday to vote on the certification, which will allow time for the required 24-hour public legal notice.

The meeting will be at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Schramm verified he is ready to certify.

County Assistant Solicitor Paula Radick told the board the state can file action against the county as a result of not certifying the results. Candidates also may file legal action against the county, she said.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, the Pennsylvania Department of State said it has reached out to county officials to inquire about the board’s Monday morning decision and its “intended next steps.”

Counties have a statutory duty to certify returns by the end of the day (Nov. 28), the state said. The only exception is for counties to withhold certification of election returns for a specific office that is the subject of a legally valid and properly filed recount petition, which is called a partial certification, it said. No recounts are pending here.

Once the department receives certified results from counties for all election districts in which ballots were cast for a given office, the department will review and compile official returns to enable the secretary to certify the final results for that office. Although there is no specific statutory deadline for the Secretary of the Commonwealth to certify election returns, Pennsylvania legislative terms begin in December, and the department is expected to certify returns to Congress by mid-December, the state said.

Schramm said he spoke with county Acting Election Director Beth McBride and county Assistant Solicitor Paula Radick after Monday’s meeting to address issues that gave him pause.

He said his biggest concerns stemmed from citizen meeting attendees repeatedly asserting that a large number of voters were turned away from polls due to a lack of paper and, thus, disenfranchised. The county court had extended voting from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. to help compensate.

Schramm said the election bureau is not seeing evidence that this occurred because no voters have come forward to say they were turned away and unable to return. He said the bureau surveyed judges of elections and received responses from 120 so far indicating none were turned away. More votes also were cast in the county on Nov. 8 than in the last comparable election four years ago.

Schramm also said he spoke to a friend in Shickshinny and was informed his polling place took down his contact information and contacted him when paper was available so he could return and vote.

“There were efforts made to assist people that you don’t hear about,” he said. “I don’t think that the number of people not being able to vote was a big number.”

Another concern involved paper provisional ballots, he said. A woman spoke during Monday’s meeting to report her provisional ballot had not yet been recorded as accepted in the state voter tracking system. Schramm said he verified that the only provisional ballots not accepted were those not signed by voters or submitted by voters who are non-county residents or deemed inactive because they have not voted in six years.

Schramm also further reviewed and is fine with a reconciliation report comparing voters who signed in at polling places and the number of ballots cast, he said.

He said he also learned county election boards must have a concrete reason to deny certification that would hold up in a court challenge. For example, he maintained an argument that a large number of voters were denied the opportunity to vote would require concrete numbers and names.

“I learned a lot. I feel good with it now,” he said of the certification.

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