Luzerne County’s Election Board held a meeting Monday morning at the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre to vote on certification of the Nov. 8 general election results. From left, are: county Acting Election Director Beth McBride and election board members Danny Schramm, Jim Mangan, Denise Williams, Audrey Serniak and Alyssa Fusaro.

Luzerne County Election Board does not certify Nov. 8 general election results

Luzerne County’s Election Board did not certify the Nov. 8 general election results Monday morning, prompting a burst of applause from citizens in the audience at the county courthouse.

Board members Alyssa Fusaro and Jim Mangan voted against the certification, citing issues primarily related to a paper shortage at polling places that prompted an unknown number of voters to be turned away.

Board member Danny Schramm abstained, saying he still wanted clarification and answers.

Denise Williams and Audrey Serniakvoted for the certification.

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.

“We’re in unchartered waters,” said Attorney Neil O’Donnell, speaking on behalf of the county Democratic Party.

If the results are not promptly certified, O’Donnell envisions a scenario where litigation may be filed on behalf of both Democratic and Republican candidates who won seats in the general election.

O’Donnell urged the county law office to speak with Schramm to identify his lingering questions and provide responses, with the goal of reconvening the volunteer citizen election board for another vote.

Monday was the deadline for election boards to certify their results, he said.

Much of the board’s focus in recent days was on a reconciliation report compiled by the election bureau that logs the number of voters checked in at each polling place and the number of votes cast through ballot marking devices or ballot scanning that occurred later during the board’s adjudication process.

Paper provisional ballots and mail ballots are tracked separately.

Williams, the board chairwoman, said Monday the bureau believes discrepancies in the reconciliation report largely stemmed from poll workers incorrectly signing in provisional voters on Election Day. These voters are not supposed to be recorded at sign-in because they did not vote on the ballot marking devices.

O’Donnell said he believes differences on the reconciliation report are “very small” and “easily explained.” The results should be certified because the board exhaustively reviewed all ballots during the adjudication process, he said.

Schramm said he is “on the fence” about certifying the election.

He referred to a public comment before Monday’s certification vote from a woman who said she cast a provisional paper ballot that has not yet been recorded as accepted in the state voter tracking system. Schramm said most provisional ballots were accepted by the board during adjudication, so he wants to know if there is a lag in recording her vote as accepted or some reason it was rejected. County Acting Election Director Beth McBride asked the woman for information so she could further research it.

Schramm also said he wants more time to review the reconciliation report and look into other concerns raised by citizens Monday.

A Democrat, Schramm said he is “not a rubber stamper” and does not vote straight party.

Mangan, a Republican, said the board “made every effort” to accept all ballots possible during adjudication.

The board has legal grounds to refuse certification if there are discrepancies, and there are plenty, he said.

Mangan suggested a “revote” is the only way the county is “going to clean up our bad name,” noting the paper issues created a “humiliating experience” that received media coverage internationally.

He promised he “won’t leave any stone unturned” in getting to the bottom of the paper problem. The county District Attorney’s Office is currently conducting an investigation.

Mangan also said he believes voters of all affiliations were impacted by the situation and is disappointed mostly Republicans are speaking out to express their concerns.

Before voting to certify, Williams, a Democrat, said the board painstakingly examined all ballots over more than seven days to make sure all eligible votes were counted. After factoring out provisional voters incorrectly logged on sign-in sheets, the number of discrepancies in the reconciliation is “very small” and “not unusual” based on statistics from prior elections, she said.

The number of unexplained discrepancies also does not appear to be high enough to impact any races, Williams said.

There is no fraud or significant discrepancy that would prevent the results from being certified, she said.

Serniak, also a Democrat, said all ballots were reviewed and considered.

“We went over everything meticulously,” she said.

More than 85% of the precincts were highly accurate in the reconciliation comparison, Serniak added. She said she saw no reason to disenfranchise the people who voted because some voters are angry or misunderstand the law.

“I can’t see any massive fraud in this,” Serniak said.

A man in the audience called her a liar and then yelled it again before leaving the room, knowing he would be escorted out by a sheriff deputy.

Wilkes-Barre resident Bob Kadluboski also was asked to leave by deputies after he interrupted the board’s pre-vote discussion to argue board members should not vote until they receive a full explanation on the cause of the paper shortage. Kadluboski said he had a right to speak and called Williams a communist.

Board member Alyssa Fusaro, a Republican, said she cannot certify the process was “carried out properly and successfully” or that every vote was counted because some were turned away at the polls.

Fusaro said there were reports of jammed scanners/tabulators at polling places, and she said the reconciliation numbers originally supplied to the board were “atrocious.” A revised version was delivered at 9:30 p.m. the night before Monday’s meeting, she said.

She proposed holding a new election.

“There were so many challenges, so many issues, so many problems, so many concerns, that I can’t with good conscience certify this election,” she said.

Williams said after Monday’s meeting she will await input from the county law office, particularly if legal action is filed over the matter.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Williams said.

Approximately 17 citizens spoke before the vote, with most opposing certification. Some predicted the board would be sued if it went ahead with certification.

Jamie Walsh, of Ross Township, told the board he has 43 affidavits from disenfranchised voters.

James May, a Republican candidate for state representative in the 118th Legislative District who lost to Democrat Jim Haddock based on unofficial results, told the board he and other members of his military family served to protect the fundamental right to vote.

Election board members should not certify unless they are certain they “know what happened,” May said.

Republican Congressional candidate Jim Bognet released a statement on the board’s decision to not certify. He had filed a civil action against the county, citing the county’s failure to confirm it would be completing the reconciliation.

“On election day, the polls were effectively closed for hours at many precincts across Luzerne County. Citizens were disenfranchised, and many voters still don’t know if their emergency ballots were properly counted. Voters deserve answers immediately,” said Bognet, who did not win the race against incumbent Democrat Matt Cartwright based on unofficial results.