As long as the state says it’s OK, Luzerne County primary election mail ballot voters will receive a “plain English” statement to help them understand a referendum asking if they want to convene a government study commission, a county election board majority decided Thursday.
Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said the inclusion of the three-paragraph statement in mail ballot packets will ensure those voters have the same access to information as those voting at the polls.
Three copies of the statement must be posted at each polling place in the April 23 primary, and it also must appear in the published election notice.
County voters will simultaneously decide if they want to convene a commission and choose seven citizens to serve on the panel. The selected seven would only serve if the referendum passes.
If a commission is activated, the panel must examine the county’s current home rule structure that took effect in 2012 and decide if it wants to prepare and recommend changes. The commission would be free to recommend alterations to the existing charter, an entirely new charter or a return to the prior state code system in which three elected commissioners and multiple row officers handled decisions that now rest with an 11-member council and appointed manager. Voters must approve any recommended change for it to take effect.
Board member Alyssa Fusaro voted against inclusion of the statement in the mail ballot packet, predicting some voters will be confused and mistakenly write yes or no on the explanation sheet instead of making the selection on the ballot, preventing that choice from being counted.
Board member Albert Schlosser said wording should be added at the top of the statement making it clear it is an explanation only. Williams also noted there won’t be any lines or prompts after the statement that could make voters think they are supposed to mark a selection there.
The board agreed to approve the statement header at its next meeting later this month.
Board members Williams, Schlosser and Daniel Schramm voted to include the statement in the mail packets. Fusaro was the lone no vote. Board member Rick Morelli participated in part of the meeting but not that vote due to his work travel.
County Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino advised the board to seek a variance with the Pennsylvania Department of State to ensure the county has official clearance to add an explanation to mail ballot packets. The board made its approval conditional pending a decision on the state variance.
County Election Director Eryn Harvey estimated the statement addition in mail packets could cost approximately $5,700 based on the count of 47,600 mail ballots that were issued in the last presidential primary election in 2020. She stressed this ballot count can end up higher or lower. Mail ballot participation was encouraged in the 2020 primary due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding for the expense is available in the county’s state Election Integrity Grant, Williams noted.
Printer
All five board members voted in support of the election bureau’s selection of Rochester, New York-based Phoenix Graphics Inc. to print ballots and prepare and deliver mail ballot packets to voters.
Fort Orange Press also submitted a proposal. The county did not receive a proposal from 2023 vendor, Claysburg, Pennsylvania-based NPC Inc., which had a machine operator error that omitted required inner secrecy envelopes in some Nov. 7 general election mail ballot packets, officials said.
Harvey said she and Deputy Election Director Emily Cook reviewed both proposals and chose Phoenix, in part because it will deliver the packets directly to the Lehigh Valley postal system that serves this area, at no added cost.
The turnaround time is also shorter for Phoenix, Harvey said.
Both factors will get the ballots to voters faster, she said, adding she is comfortable with Phoenix based on her research.
Phoenix is equipped to comply with the state’s redesign of mail ballot materials to reduce voter errors and confusion kicking off in the April primary, Harvey said. These changes include more understandable instructions, highlighting of fields the voters must complete on the outer envelope and coloring to make it easier for voters to distinguish the outer return envelope and inner secrecy envelope that must contain the ballot.
Hole punch
Under the redesign, counties also have discretion to use a hole punch in the outer return envelope to help county election workers identify when a mandatory secrecy envelope is missing inside.
The board voted to add the hole punch Thursday.
Harvey said Phoenix is waiving the typical $500 fee to add the hole punch.
Mail ballots can’t be unsealed until Election Day, and the hole punch would allow workers processing the ballots to instantly verify missing secrecy envelopes so they don’t have to take time unsealing those, board members said.
Williams said secrecy envelopes will be yellow with the redesign, making it easy to detect if they are missing through the hole punch.