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Luzerne County ended up issuing 71,059 Nov. 3 general election mail ballots to voters who requested them before this week&rsquo;s deadline, county Deputy Election Bureau Director Dino Ninotti said Wednesday.
				To date, 41,369 voters have returned completed ballots to the bureau, which means 29,690 are still outstanding, Ninotti told the county Election Board in its virtual meeting.
				The bureau is now caught up on scanning the bar codes of all new arrivals to record their receipt, which is logged in the state&rsquo;s ballot-tracking system at <a href="https://www.votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Mail-and-Absentee-Ballot.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">votespa.com</a>, he said.
				Hand-delivered ballots must be in the county election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
				State election officials are now advising voters to drop off their mail ballots to ensure counties receive them in time to be counted.
				The drop off options:
				&#8226; A box inside the county&rsquo;s Penn Place Building lobby at 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilkes-Barre, which will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Election Day and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
				&#8226; The counter at the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre post offices, where the ballots will be segregated and picked up by county sheriff deputies daily. The Wilkes-Barre post office is at 300 S. Main St., while the Hazleton one is at 231 N. Wyoming St.
				During Wednesday&rsquo;s board meeting, county Council members Walter Griffith and Stephen J. Urban complained about cases of voters not receiving requested ballots.
				Voters who don&rsquo;t receive a requested ballot would have the option to cast a paper provisional ballot at the polls, officials said. Provisional ballots are marked by hand and reviewed last so the county can verify a mail ballot was not also received from that voter.
				All voters can cast ballots at the polls if they did not return a mail ballot.
				If voters bring in all three items sent by the county &mdash; the never-returned, mail-in ballot, secrecy envelope and outer mailing envelope &mdash; the packet can be voided/spoiled, allowing them to vote on the electronic ballot marking devices. Voters without all three items must vote by provisional ballot.
				Among the other updates Wednesday:
				&#8226; Poll workers
				Ninotti said all positions are filled, with more available to cover if needed. Some workers have recently raised concerns about working due to rising county coronavirus cases, he said.
				Seventeen traveling rovers carrying extra equipment and supplies also have been assigned to cover zones throughout the county, he said.
				&#8226; Tallying results
				Nine four-person teams will process mail ballots on Election Day in a third-floor courtroom at Penn Place that was used in the June 2 primary election.
				Ninotti said he is awaiting a determination on how many observers will be permitted in the room to allow for social distancing.
				&#8226; Election Day attire
				Election workers obviously are not permitted to wear anything tied to a political party or candidate inside polling places, but what about voters?
				Solicitor Michael Butera said voters should not technically wear clothing broadcasting a particular candidate because politicking is not permitted inside polling places, but he said enforcement is difficult because the county does not want to deny anyone the right to vote.
				&#8226; Security
				Election board members expressed concerns about ample security in case there are voter suppression or intimidation reports at polling places.
				Butera said constables and county sheriff deputies handle Election Day security, and reinforcement from law enforcement will be available if problems surface. Both state and local police departments are on alert and prepared to respond to disruptions, he said.
				&#8226; Voter registration
				After processing all registration requests submitted before the Oct. 19 deadline, the county now has 220,965 voters eligible to cast ballots in the Nov. 3 general election.
				The county registration breakdown, according to state records: Democrat, 106,405; Republican, 86,392; no affiliation, 20,943; and other, 7,225.
				&#8226; State statistics
				The state has 9.08 million registered voters for the general election. The breakdown: Democrats, 4,228,962; Republican, 3,542,313;, no affiliation, 911,397; and other, 399,261.
				In total, 3.06 million mail ballots have been issued to voters who requested them statewide. Nearly 65%, or 1.98 million, completed ballots have been received by county election bureaus so far.
				A party breakdown of the mail ballots received to date, according to the state: Democrat, 1,354,623; Republican, 426,431; and other, 197,428.

Luzerne County has issued 71,059 mail ballots for Nov. 3 general election