Luzerne County’s election bureau received 27,752 completed mail ballots by Monday evening, said county Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora.
That’s an 82.5% return rate so far because the county had issued 33,657 mail ballots before last week’s application deadline.
Mail ballots must be must be received in the county election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and the only drop box available on Election Day is in the county-owned Penn Place building, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., in Wilkes-Barre. The box there is accessible from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In total, 204,207 county residents are registered to cast ballots.
For in-person voting, polling places are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Information on polling locations is posted under the election bureau page at luzernecounty.org, including a new map search tool.
Only two polling places are changing for the general — Harveys Lake, which will return to the borough building, and Hazleton Ward 5, which will be switched to Holy Rosary Church.
At the polls, voters make selections on touchscreen machines and then receive a paper ballot printout to verify their choices. After reviewing this printout, voters must feed the paper into a tabulator.
Voters are reminded not to leave the polling place with this paper because it must be entered into the tabulator to lock in their vote.
Those with questions or concerns about the ballot marking devices, printouts or tabulators — or anything else they encounter in the polling place — should alert the judge of elections before they cast their ballot so the judge can assess the situation and, if warranted, resolve it, officials say.
Voters will sign in on paper poll books instead of electronic ones due to a continuing county assessment of which option should be used in future elections.
Mail voters who did not return their ballots also can bring the ballot package that had been sent to them — the ballot and both envelopes — to their polling place so it can be voided, allowing them to cast their ballot on the electronic ballot marking devices.
Voters who requested but never received a mail ballot can cast a paper provisional ballot at the polls.
Provisional ballots are marked by hand and reviewed last so the county can verify a mail ballot was not also received from that voter. They must be placed in a secrecy envelope, which is then inserted in an outer envelope. Three signatures — two from the voter and one from the judge of elections — are required on the outer envelope for the vote to count.
As usual, results will be posted and updated at luzernecounty.org after the polls close.
The state’s electionreturns.pa.gov site will provide updated unofficial results in state races.
An area for the public to view results will be set up in Penn Place after 8 p.m.
Voters may call 570-825-1715 or email elections@luzernecounty.org for assistance or to report any issues.