Everything You Need to Know About Navigating the 2020 Election

Part I:
Everything you need to know about Navigating the 2020 Election

Sunday, September 20, 2020

EDITOR’S NOTE

mail.

Welcome to Navigating 2020.

Any partisan content you see will be from the candidates and the political

We realize this year has been like no other. We also know we face an all-important election in just 44 days – an election, much as the year, like no other. And we are intent to make sure you are County the same opportunity to advertise. ready to cast your ballot. This is the rst of three special sections to help you get ready to do just that. Our promise to you is that we will remain non-partisan in the pages of the special sections. Our only goal is to give you all the information you could need to vote – whether you plan on doing that in person or through the parties themselves and clearly marked as such. In the matter of fairness, we oered each political party in Luzerne

So we hope you enjoy the work we have put into this section and the ones to follow in the coming weeks. And we sincerely hope you take the time to exercise your civic duty come Nov. 3 and vote.
– Times Leader

NAVIGATING ELECTION 2020

2

ELECTION NIGHT

File photo

Teams of Luzerne County workers spent long days painstakingly opening envelopes containing mail-in ballots following the June 2 primary election.

Timing of election results up in the air

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

Michael Butera recently said several legislative changes related to mail-in voting have been circulating at the state capital, with no final decisions. That includes proposals allowing counties to start opening up mail-in ballots 21 or 3 days before the election — a process known as pre-canvassing — so they are ready to be loaded into also will delay the final tally, officials say. day to “election week.”
“We’ll take accuracy over speed every
In the primary, completed ballots had single time,” Ouellette said.

[email protected]

n inﬂux of mail-in ballots that to be physically returned to the county

election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks did not count. The state Supreme Court last week granted the Democratic Party’s request to order a three-day extension for the
Approximately 40,300 county voters cast their ballots by mail on June 2 — an option that was encouraged in the coronavirus pandemic and available with no excuse or reason required for the ﬁrst time due to state legislation that had passed last year. County ofﬁcials are projecting the number of mail-in voters will be in the 50,000 range for the upcoming general. Teams of county workers had to took longer to process in the June 2 primary election ended the tradition of Election Night

A

candidate victory announcements. Luzerne County and many others needed more than a week to ﬁnish opening and scanning the ballots and reach decisions on the ones ﬂagged for missing signatures and issues. tabulators and tallied on election night, Nov. 3 general, which means mailed balButera said.
“It could take as long as it did in the lots received by 5 p.m. Nov. 6 must be counted if they were postmarked by the spring or be faster. We don’t know until time polls closed on Election Day.
It’s still unclear if legislators will reach a solution on changes to speed up the process for Nov. 3. the state decides what it is going to do,” said county Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik.
Because mail-in ballots take longer to process, county Election Board Vice Chairman Peter Ouellette said the mindset needs to change from election spend days opening outer envelopes,

See RESULTS | 3

County Election Board Solicitor

Another deadline that has changed

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MAIL IN VOTING

Results

From page 2

shufﬂing the sealed secrecy envelopes inside and then opening those to access mail-in ballots that had to be unfolded and smoothed so they didn’t cause a jam when batches were fed into scanner/tabulators. The envelopes couldn’t be opened until 7 a.m. on Election Day under state law. Separate from state legislation out of her control, county Election Director Shelby Watchilla said she is trying to accelerate mail-in ballot processing by researching the possible addition of an automated envelope opener. These devices can open 40,000 envelopes per hour and have been used successfully and safely in other counties, Watchilla said.

The basics explained

File photo

Luzerne County Election Board members review flagged issues, such as missing signatures, on mail-in ballots following the June 2 primary. Photographed, from left, are Audrey Serniak, Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt, Keith Gould and Peter Ouellette.

or reason required for the ﬁrst time due to state legislation that had passed last year. free up election staff for other election preparations, Parsnik said. state’s database. After ﬁlling out the
Ouellette provided some

[email protected]

procedural reminders for ballot, voters must place

it in the white envelope, seal it and then put that envelope inside the one with the label/barcode to be returned to the county. nless state legislators change the date, voters inter-
The county election ofﬁce will continue handling the processing of all returned ballots.

See MAIL-IN | 4

Mail-in ballots for the general election are on track to be mailed by the end of the month to county voters who requested them, said county Election Director Shelby Watchilla.

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ested in casting their ballots by mail have until Oct. 27 — a week before the Nov. 3 election — to request the option. Luzerne County ofﬁ- cials are projecting the number of mail-in voters will be in the 50,000 range for the upcoming general.

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Attention to detail is important to ensure a mail-in vote is counted, officials say.
During processing, secrecy envelopes are shuffled as a way to prevent the linking of ballots to specific individuals. The outer envelopes are scanned so the system records which voters
The county admin-

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Along with instructions, mail-in voters receive a ballot, a plain white secrecy envelope istration has decided to retain an outside

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company — Ohio-based Election IQ — to handle the preparation and mailing of ballots instead of performing that work in-house, said county Administrative Services Director David Parsnik. This outsourcing will
Approximately 40,300 county voters cast their ballots by mail on June 2 — an option that was encouraged in the coronavirus pandemic and available with no excuse with no identifying infor- have cast mail-in ballots. mation on it and an outer envelope that contains the voter’s name and a label with a bar code that, when scanned, identiﬁes that voter in the
For the upcoming election, the state is covering the cost of postage for mail-in ballots.

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County Election Board Vice Chairman Peter

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or deputy sheriff, eliminating any mail delays,

Watchilla said.

The recent Supreme Court ruling also authorized counties to use drop boxes for mail-in

4

party that offers to perform that task on their behalf. In the primary, completed ballots had to be physically returned to the county election

Mail-in

From page 3

mail-in voters based on errors observed by the county Election Board following the June 2 primary: bureau by 8 p.m. on Elec- ballots — something that tion Day, and postmarks did not count. That has changed for the general election. The had been identiﬁed as a need by county election board members.

• Voters must sign the

outer mailing envelope containing the bar code.

• Multiple ballots can-

not be placed inside the same secrecy or mailing envelope. If this happens, the county cannot count the ballots because there would be no way to determine which ballot is tied to the voter listed on the envelope with the bar code.

• When selecting can-

didates, voters should fully shade in the ovals and be careful not to select more than the speciﬁed number of candidates — known as over-voting. No vote can be counted in a race with over-voting because it is impossible to determine voter intent. In addition, Ouellette stressed voters should mail or personally deliver their own ballots and never rely on an outside state Supreme Court last Security week granted the Democratic Party’s request to order a three-day extension, which means mailed ballots received by 5 p.m. Nov. 6 must be counted if they were postmarked by the time polls closed on Election Day.
Only one valid ballot can be issued to each voter, tracked through the unique barcode.

Watchilla said there

is no chance two ballots would be counted for the same voter — one in person and one by mail — because the sign-in books at polling places ﬂag voters who received mail-in ballots.

Mail-in voters can

bring their completed ballots directly to the election bureau in the county-owned Penn Place building at 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in

Wilkes-Barre.

In the primary, all voters who received mailin ballots had to use a special provisional paper ballot if they appeared in person. Provisional ballots are counted last, and the election database shows if the county already received a mail-in ballot that would prevent
As the election nears, the county also plans to again permit voters to take their ballots to the

counter at the Wilkes-

Barre and Hazleton post ofﬁces, where the ballots the provisional one from will be segregated and picked up several times being tabulated. That procedure still daily by a county courier remains in the Nov. 3 general, with one excep-

tion, Watchilla said.

J S

Voters who received

mail-in ballots will be

File photo

Leading up to the June 2 primary election, Luzerne County worker Dana McGonigle scans bar codes that track which voters have returned mail-in ballots.

permitted to cast regular ballots on the electronic machines at their polling places if they bring in the never-returned mail-in ballot and entire packet that had been sent by the county so it can be void-

ed or “spoiled,” Watchilla

SPORTING GOODS

said. If those materials are not presented, a provisional ballot will be required. Ballots are kept in a locked room until they can be opened. The key with access controlled by of each political party

Hunting • Fishing

Watchilla.

and candidates or their representatives. Updates on all election notices are posted on the election page at www.

luzernecounty.org.

Bi-partisan teams of election workers tabulate the mail-in ballots at the county’s Penn Place building. Observation is

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(570)824-4610

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5

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IN PERSON VOTING

File photo

Luzerne County Election Director Shelby Watchilla demonstrates the voting process on the county’s new ballot marking devices.

Casting ballot at polling place still an option

On the new touchscreen machines, voters will make selections as they did with the old devices. But instead of touching a screen box to lock in their votes, they will receive a paper printout to verify their selections before they feed the paper into a tabulator to to be read, county Election Director Shelby Watchilla has noted. The tabulator step is essential because that’s when votes are cast, sessions and answered questions about the system, which was purchased from Dominion Voting Systems Inc.

[email protected]

Luzerne County voters interested in casting their ballots in person Nov. 3 will use new voting machines — most for the ﬁrst time. The machines were reserved for the disabled in the June 2 primary due to coronavirus pandemic challenges recruiting and training poll workers, with others voters required to cast paper ballots.
The county started poll worker train-
Watchilla said. Poll workers will remind ing on the new machines last week, voters because their ballots won’t be cast if they leave the polling location be read and saved in compliance with a with their ballot, she said.
Watchilla said.

Polling locations

state paper-trail mandate. Residents who cast paper ballots at polling places in the primary already
Public demonstrations of the new machines were held for four days last week in the courthouse rotunda on
In the primary, the number of voting sites was temporarily reduced from 144 to 58 to alleviate concerns about used part of this new system when they River Street in Wilkes-Barre. County

placed their ballots into the tabulators

Election Board members conducted the

See IN-PERSON | 6

6

In-person

From page 5

proper social distancing and pandemic-related shortages of poll workers and polling places. The plan is to return to all pre-coronavirus pandemic polling places on Nov. 3. County Manager C. David Pedri said he will release a list by the end of the month stating any polling locations unwilling to host an election due to coronavirus concerns, such as elderly residential facilities. Election workers will wear masks and have hand sanitizer available for voters, said county Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik. As in the primary, voters without masks will be politely asked to wear a face covering for the protection of others, although those refusing will still be permitted to vote, ofﬁcials said. Voters also will be expected to adhere to social distancing guidelines as much as possible inside polling places and outside if there are lines to get in. Reminder signs will be posted. Upon arrival, voters must sign in on an electronic poll book. Parsnik said it’s still unclear if the county will provide voters with a take-home stylus or clean a shared stylus between uses with disinfecting wipes. Special screen wipes will be used to clean the ballot marking devices, he said.

File photo

Luzerne County’s new election system to be used Nov. 3 requires voters to make selections on a touchscreen as they did with the old devices.

7

NATIONAL MEDIA

2020 Election: Will it be déjà vu all over again?

By Bill O’Boyle

ing book “The Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America.”

[email protected]

ILKES-BARRE — In 2016, most political observers didn’t see a Trump victory on
Bradlee talked with several NEPA people and he said he keeps in touch with many of them. He said he’s been told there are far more Biden signs in the region than were out for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

W

the horizon. Despite drawing thousands of people to every rally he held, Donald Trump couldn’t win the presidential election, the experts and polls all said. They were wrong.
Are the signs a sign?

Fact check: There are still

plenty of Trump signs dotting the local landscape, however.
“I see a very different election this time than in 2016,” Bradlee said. “The foremost reason is that Trump is the president — he has a record. The country is in a meltdown on his watch.” Bradlee said the COVID-19 pandemic has been “a disaster” and it’s spilled over to the nation’s economy.
Now, four years later, we asked a few national media people how they see the 2020 election. Can Trump win another term, or will former Vice President Joe Biden energize the Democratic Party and its members to defeat the incumbent Republican. In 2016, the “flip to Trump” movement caught the eyes of national and international media — after the fact, of course. Representatives from the Wall Street Journal, Time and Newsweek magazines, Reuters, Le Monde of Paris, TV crews from Germany, Australia, Canada and Japan, The Washington Post, New York Times and more descended upon the county to find out why Trump was so popular.
“And he’s been impeached,” Bradlee added. “He lies constantly — nothing he says can be believed anymore. He uses the Justice Department as if it’s his own law firm.
“I just think that people have had enough of him.” All that said, Bradlee acknowledges that Trump still has a strong following.
“He’s taken over the Republican Party,” he said. “The party doesn’t stand for anything —

Times Leader File photo

Ben Bradlee, Jr.

Bradlee penned the best-sell-

Ben Bradlee Jr. wrote a best-selling book “The Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America” about Luzerne County’s impact on the 2016 presidential election.

See MEDIA | 8

Republican Party of Luzerne County

believes in the spirit of the 2020 Election

We encourage you to
Register to Vote, Vote IN PERSON because

Your VOTE Counts!

Visit Luzerne County Republican Party on Facebook or email [email protected]

Paid for by Republican Party of Luzerne County

10

polls have been all over the map. He said it seems to be a very ﬂuid race.
“The one thing for certain is that both candidates know they must carry Pennsylvania, a female president.”

which explains their

His story said Clinton

frequent visits — Trump ended up losing the to Old Forge a couple of weeks ago and to did not materialize, like a suburban vote surge overwhelming losses in rural areas, and suburban women jumping — maybe at the last minute — for the chance to elect

Media

Trip Gabriel

David Weigel

Ben Bradlee, Jr.

New York Times Washington Post

Author

From page 7

they just support Trump. It’s become a cult.” Biden, Bradlee said, is the “un-Hillary.” He said the former VP is a moderate who doesn’t talk down to people. votes of white women by nine points, according to exit polls, and losing the suburbs by four points. Meanwhile, voters without college degrees,
“Biden is a uniter; Trump is a divider,”
Latrobe; and Biden’s visits to his hometown and to Pittsburgh in recent weeks,” Gabriel said.
Bradlee said. “Trump behaves as the president of his base, not of the country. It’s like he has hypnotized his base.” Bradlee said Trump’s
2016 contention that he is so popular, he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in New York City and get away with it still holds true.
“Trump is living in an alternate universe where he’s been able to maintain his base,” Bradlee said. “His base gives him a pass on everything because they like him the way he stirs things up every day and sticks it to the media. And he can be cruel on Twitter. His base seems to lap it up.” So what will it take to defeat Trump? Bradlee says most voters have already made their decision — leaving few undecided remaining. He said the major campaign event yet to happen will be when the two candidates debate. Bradlee said he feels Trump made a strategic error by trying to make Biden out to be a doddering fool who is out of it totally.
“I see a very low bar for Biden to clear in the debates,” Bradlee said. “Trump has painted him as a guy with Alzheimer’s and who is out of it.” Bradlee said voters who had backed Barack Obama’s 2012 bid by 15 points, went for Trump by seven points.

Trip Gabriel is a national correspondent. He
National reporter covering Well-known former

David Weigel

politics.

deputy managing editor

of the Boston Globe Ben Bradlee Jr., oversaw the Globe’s investigation of Boston’s clerical sexual abuse scandal that was later made into the movie “Spotlight,” the name of the investigative unit. He also penned the

The Washington Post

Weigel said patterns in the last couple of nonpresidential elections show that the gains that Trump made were not fully erased in 2018 He said some patterns continue.

covered the 2016 and 2012 presidential campaigns, including spending all of 2015 in Iowa for the run-up to the state’s caucuses. He travelled extensively in battleground states to write about candidates and interview voters. He has served as the Mid-Atlantic bureau
Education: Northwestern University, B.S. in