Luzerne County Election Director Emily Cook said her staff has prepared for 100% voter turnout in the upcoming Nov. 3 general election, which would equate to 209,132 ballots based on the latest state registration statistics.
While full voter participation by mail or at the polls is the hoped-for outcome, the realistic expectation is lower.
County turnout was 57.25% in the last November 2022 gubernatorial general election, with 117,495 of 205,242 registered voters casting ballots.
Cook said she looks forward to discovering how some very competitive races and voter engagement impact this year’s turnout.
“I am interested to see how that reflects with turnout, how the final turnout for this election ends up compared to other midterm election years,” Cook said.
County turnout was 52.55% in the previous November 2018 general, when 109,024 of the 207,472 voters registered at that time participated, the county’s election results archive shows.
Local attorney Michael Butera, a past county Election Board solicitor, has closely followed county elections for decades and provided turnout predictions based on his conversations with acquaintances on both sides of the aisle.
Before the 2022 general, he projected a 57.9% turnout, which was close to the actual 57.25%.
His Nov. 3 turnout prediction: 52.11%.
Butera said a major reason for lowering his projection is the absence of a U.S. Senate race on this ballot. He believes turnout in 2022 was largely bumped up by the heated battle between Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman, who won the six-year term. A total 116,480 county voters cast ballots in that U.S. Senate race, or 327 more than the ballots cast in the governor’s race in that election.
Based on his feedback speaking to those from both major parties, Butera also believes Democrats are particularly energized and said it remains to be seen if Republicans will be “as enthusiastic.”
Butera emphasized he expects some races will spike turnout, including the 8th Congressional race between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. and Democratic challenger Paige Cognetti.
Regarding voting in general, Cook urged voters with any concerns about the process to call 570-825-1715 or email elections@luzernecounty.org.
Cook also set up a new complaint form on the election section at luzernecounty.org for voters to report any issues they believe warrant further review. An election bureau worker will monitor these forms and any Election Day poll worker alerts sent by phone or a text messaging system, she said.
“We’re trying to be more proactive in addressing potential concerns by providing resolution to voters and poll workers,” Cook said.
In-person
Election Day polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 3.
A list of all 186 county polling places is posted on the election bureau page at luzernecounty.org.
The following polling locations have changed since the May primary:
• Exeter Borough — all three wards moving to the Wyoming Area High School Gymnasium, 252 Memorial St., due to a church closure.
• Hazleton Wards 9 and 11 — relocating to the St. John the Baptist Polish National Catholic Church, 748 N. Church St., also due to a church closure.
• Swoyersville Ward 2 — returning to the Swoyersville Municipal Building, 675 Main St., because a pest control issue at the municipal building has been resolved.
• Wright Township District 2 — switching to the New Life Community Church, 570 S. Main Rd., because the prior shared location in the municipal building was too crowded.
Voters unsure of their ward or district can obtain that information through the state’s registration database at pavoterservices.pa.gov.
After signing in on electronic poll books at polling places, voters will mark their selections on paper ballots. The county printed paper poll books for each polling place as a backup in case there are issues with the electronic ones, Cook said.
Voters will receive a pen to mark their selections in spaces with privacy screens.
Voters must feed the hand-marked ballots into a tabulator to be cast, as they previously did with ballot-marking device printouts under the system used before this year.
The change to hand-marked paper ballots is part of the switch to new leased voting equipment from Hart InterCivic enacted in this year’s primary election. An electronic ballot-marking device will still be set up at each polling place for voters with disabilities.
A folder will be provided to voters to keep their ballot private as they head to the scanner.
Some reminders:
• Fully shade in selection boxes, and don’t mark them with an X, a slash, or by circling.
• Don’t sign or make other marks on the ballot.
• Select only the specified number of candidates.
• Turn over the ballot to complete additional selections on the back.
If voters make a mistake and need to change a selection after they’ve marked the ballot, they are instructed to ask a poll worker for a new ballot.
When a new ballot is issued, the old one must be voided and retained by poll workers to ensure accurate ballot-auditing reports during post-election reconciliation. This is called ballot spoiling.
The tabulator will also inform voters, in a plain-language screen message if they have selected too many candidates in any race, known as overvoting, or if they have incorrectly scribbled on the ballot, called an extraneous mark.
In either situation, voters will have the option to alert a poll worker to have their ballot spoiled so they can receive a new one and start the process over again.
Provisional ballots
Paper provisional ballots are cast at polling places when workers determine additional voter verification is needed. The county reviews provisional ballots last during post-election adjudication to ensure the voters are properly registered and did not cast a second ballot by mail.
The provisional ballot envelopes identify fields that must be filled out by voters and election workers.
Mail ballots
Approximately 30,718 general election mail ballots were issued to voters requesting them, Cook told the election board last week.
Mail ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks do not count.
The county has drop boxes inside two buildings: the county-owned Penn Place Building at 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton City Hall, 40 N. Church St. in the city.
The schedule:
• Penn Place lobby: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday.
This box closes at 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Hazleton City Hall: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
This box closes at 4 p.m. the day before the election, Nov. 2.
A box is also set up inside the election bureau on the second floor of Penn Place. That box is available from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Mail ballot voters can check the status of their mail ballot on the state’s tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov.
Voters who receive alerts of mail ballot deficiencies can appear at the election bureau to submit a new ballot or fill out a provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day.
Mail voters who received but did not return their ballot can also bring the ballot package that was sent to them — the ballot and envelopes — to their polling place so it can be voided, allowing them to vote regularly at their polling place.
Approximately 40 workers will be sworn in and trained so they are prepared to perform the initial unsealing and processing of mail ballots — known as pre-canvassing — starting at 7 a.m. on Election Day in Penn Place, Cook said.
Results
County results will be posted and updated at luzernecounty.org after the polls close.
The state’s electionreturns.pa.gov site will provide the updated unofficial results for races that extend beyond the county.