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Their view: I violated Pa. election law — and I’m not ashamed

<p>Luzerne County could not count 458 absentee ballots in the Nov. 6 general election because they were returned after the deadline, county Election Director Marisa Crispell said this week.</p><p>Under state law, completed absentee ballots must be returned to county election offices by 5 p.m. the Friday before the election &#8212; in this case Nov. 2 &#8212; to be counted. The state&#8217;s exception: military and overseas ballots, which are counted if they are returned by Nov. 13 as long as they were postmarked the day before the election, Crispell said.</p><p>Crispell said her office mailed most absentee ballots within 24 hours of receiving applications, which is faster than the state-required 48 hours.</p><p>However, she said the speed of mail is out of her control, and the state allows voters until Oct. 30 to apply for absentee ballots. Even with rapid turnaround, it is unlikely voters who wait until close to the deadline would be able to receive their ballots and get them back to the election office by Nov. 2, she said.</p><p>Many people who &#8220;cut it close&#8221; to the application deadline were seeking absentee ballots for family members who are disabled or living in nursing homes, which means their need to vote absentee could have been anticipated when the county was permitted to start accepting applications Sept. 17, she said.</p><p>Crispell had publicly urged absentee voters to get their applications in early, if possible.</p><p>&#8220;I suggest people try to remember the election dates we are bound to follow to ensure everyone&#8217;s vote is cast,&#8221; Crispell said.</p><p>Voters can request absentee ballots if they are unable to appear at the polls on Election Day due to an illness, travel, work or other obligation.</p><p>On-the-spot ballots were issued to absentee voters in the election office if they learned close to the deadline that they could not be present at their polling place due to an unforeseen situation, she said.</p><p>That option was reserved for sudden situations because processing in-person requests took staffers away from addressing a steady stream of new mailed requests and other election preparations, she said. Caution also is required because Pennsylvania is not an early voting state.</p><p><strong>Deadline change urged</strong></p><p>During a work session this week, county Councilman Stephen A. Urban called for state legislators to extend the deadline, allowing absentee ballots to count if they are returned on Election Day.</p><p>Crispell said she has no problem with his idea but cautioned the state election code is a &#8220;spider web&#8221; of interconnected deadlines that must be considered as a package.</p><p>For example, her office must include the completed absentee ballots in the package of supplies delivered to each of the county&#8217;s 180 polling districts in case these voters show up in person on Election Day. If the voters appear, their still-sealed ballots are marked void at the polling place, she said.</p><p>Eleven absentee ballots were voided Nov. 6 because these voters appeared at their polling places to vote, Crispell said.</p><p>The polling place supplies are prepared the Friday night before the election, after the 5 p.m. absentee deadline has passed, so there is ample time to transport them.</p><p>To accept absentee ballots on Election Day, legislators would have to figure out how those voter names are communicated to each polling place so people would not have an opportunity to also show up at the polls and cast another ballot, essentially voting twice.</p><p>Absentee voters are noted in the electronic poll books used to sign in voters as they arrive at polling places, but the county cannot electronically update that information after they are packed up for delivery to each polling place because the state does not allow outside wireless transmissions, Crispell said.</p><p>&#8220;So for the 458 that came in late, we&#8217;d have to manually notify each polling place and update the records at each polling place,&#8221; she explained.</p><p>This would be a logistical challenge, she said, because the county&#8217;s 180 polling precincts are housed in 156 buildings. She supports a comprehensive revamping of the election code, largely to allow consolidation and more manageable regional vote centers.</p><p>Urban also suggested the county notify all voters who missed the deadline to inform them their ballots were not counted.</p><p>Crispell said she is not aware of any county that notifies absentee voters who missed the deadline, in part due to the time and expense.</p><p>The county ended up counting 4,299 absentee ballots, which includes military/overseas ballots and excludes the 11 who appeared in person, she said.</p><p>The office issued 5,275 absentee ballots, leaving 507 that were not returned.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_luzcocourthouse01-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Official: 458 could not be counted</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Late Luzerne County absentee ballots add up; 458 could not be counted