Luzerne County officials said Thursday they are not at fault for a Carbon County mail ballot error impacting two Hazleton Area School Board candidates.
Candidate Carmella Yenkevich’s name did not appear on Carbon County mail ballots sent to 62 voters in Beaver Meadows borough and Banks Township, which are located in the Hazleton Area School District.
Yenkevich is among seven candidates seeking five seats with four-year terms. Candidates Robert Childs, Ellen McBride and Tony Bonomo received both party nominations in the primary election. Yenkevich and Ivelisse Childs received a Democratic nomination, and Joseph J. Barletta and James G. Chapman received Republican nominations.
In a second error, Bonomo was not listed as one of two candidates for a two-year board seat. He won the Republican nomination, but Democratic nominee Carol Makuta was stated as the lone candidate under both party tickets.
Yenkevich detected and reported the mail ballot errors to Carbon County and was informed by its election director that both counties were at fault.
But Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo supplied a copy of an official letter containing a seal that Luzerne County Election Director Eryn Harvey sent to Carbon County on July 20 listing the Hazleton Area School Board candidates who were nominated in the primary election and must appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. Both Yenkevich and Bonomo were listed under the correct races.
In addition, Crocamo said Luzerne County Deputy Election Director Emily Cook called Carbon County’s election office in September as a follow-up to ask if it had received everything, and the office responded it had all information, Crocamo said.
Carbon County Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said Thursday his focus has been on issuing correct mail ballots to impacted voters.
“Carbon County government is casting no blame on anyone outside of our own,” Lukasevich said. “It is on our ballot, and we’ll ensure their vote will be counted and that they have an opportunity to vote for all candidates in their school district.”
Upon notice of the error, Carbon County immediately notified its printer to prepare corrected ballots for the 62 voters, he said. The new ballots were shipped overnight from the printer and hand-carried to the closest post office for prompt delivery to impacted voters, with the packet including a letter explaining the problem, Lukasevich said.
The county also contacted impacted mail ballot voters by phone and email alerting them to the ballot omissions and informing them a new ballot would be sent, he said.
Lukasevich said voters should start receiving the new ballots as early as Friday.
The ballot will be correct for in-person voters in both municipalities at polling places on Election Day, he said.
Yenkevich said she was informed Carbon County intends to seek an extension from the court if all corrected mail ballots are not received by the return deadline of 8 p.m. on election night.
While 62 ballots may not seem significant to some in a school district race, Yenkevich said it could be “enough to make a difference.”
“That could change the outcome. It’s important that all votes are counted,” she said.
Bonomo said he hopes the district-wide gap between winners and losers ends up exceeding 62 votes so there will be no questions about the errors having an impact.
He does not expect all impacted mail ballot voters will return the corrected ballots because some may have opted for mail ballots due to travel or incapacitation.