Luzerne County’s Election Bureau plans to start sending out May 18 primary election mail ballots on Monday, said county Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik.
More than 19,000 county voters have requested mail ballots for the upcoming primary to date — an option added last year with no excuse or justification required. The deadline to apply for mail ballots is 5 p.m. on May 11, or a week before the primary, although state and county officials urge interested voters to act sooner if possible.
Parsnik said the primary ballots have gone through five rounds of proofing.
The review process is more cumbersome because this election cycle includes a mix of municipal, school and other local races, he said.
Some ballot decisions also will be open to voters not registered as Republicans or Democrats. All voters in four county municipalities — Pittston Township, Avoca, Dupont and Duryea — will decide whether Republican Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak or state Rep. Marty Flynn, D-Scranton, fills the 22nd Senatorial District seat vacated by John Blake.
In addition, all voters statewide will decide four public questions — three proposed state constitution amendments and a change that would allow municipal fire departments and emergency medical service providers to be eligible for state loans.
For those needing a refresher, mail voters receive instructions, a ballot, an unmarked white secrecy envelope and an outer envelope that contains the voter’s name and a label with a bar code that, when scanned, identifies that voter in the state’s database.
After filling out the ballot, voters must place it in the secrecy envelope, seal it and then put that envelope inside the one with the label/barcode to be returned to the county.
Ballots won’t be counted if voters fail to enclose them in both envelopes or sign and date the outer envelope, the state said.
During processing, secrecy envelopes are shuffled as a way to prevent the linking of ballots to specific individuals.
Mail ballots must be received in the county election office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, the state said.
In addition to mailing, voters also will be able to hand-deliver their ballots in drop boxes inside Hazleton, Nanticoke, Pittston city halls and the county’s Penn Place Building lobby at 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilkes-Barre.
Disabled voters can complete a form at votespa.com designating a third party to deliver the ballot on their behalf. Otherwise, voters must return only their own ballots under state law.
May 3 is the deadline to register to vote in the May 18 primary. An application link is posted on the county election page at luzernecounty.org.