Luzerne County’s Election Board, shown reviewing ballots, is set to vote on the certification of the Nov. 3 general election results at 9 a.m. Monday.
                                 File photo

Luzerne County’s Election Board, shown reviewing ballots, is set to vote on the certification of the Nov. 3 general election results at 9 a.m. Monday.

File photo

County Election Board meeting will be available online

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The 154,134 Luzerne County voters who cast ballots in the Nov. 3 general election have an option to virtually witness the final local step to lock in their selections: certification.

A special public virtual Luzerne County Election Board meeting has been scheduled at 9 a.m. Monday to certify the results. Monday is the state’s certification deadline for counties, and the state must then certify results from all 67 counties to advance to the governor’s certification of 20 electors for the Electoral College.

Instructions on attending the certification are posted under the county alerts banner on the main page at luzernecounty.org.

Board approval means the county’s unofficial votes for each candidate become official. That includes the 22,000-vote lead U.S. President Donald Trump had in the county over Joe Biden. Biden is leading by 81,164 votes statewide, according to the unofficial results.

County officials are not sure what to expect at Monday’s certification. Normally routine county election certifications are now in the limelight in some battleground states, including Michigan and Arizona, due to Trump’s push to overturn President-elect Biden’s victory, according to national media coverage.

Recent certification resistance appears to be “inspired by Trump’s incendiary rhetoric about baseless fraud and driven by Republican acquiescence to broadsides against the nation’s electoral system as state and federal courts push aside legal challenges filed by Trump and his allies,” the Associated Press recently reported.

Even amid Trump’s victory in the county, there has been some arguments against Monday’s certification here.

Republican county Council members Stephen J. Urban and Harry Haas have both publicly argued county certification should not take place until all outstanding questions have been answered.

Republican Election Board member Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt also announced after board adjudication wrapped up Tuesday that she does not plan to vote to certify the election due to her concerns.

During council’s election inquiry committee meeting Thursday, Dombroski-Gebhardt spoke during public comment to announce reasons she would not be certifying the election: spoiled/voided ballot verification issues; a failure to alert mail voters of ballots missing secrecy envelopes after 5:30 p.m. on Election Day in case they wanted to try to vote at their polls; and the board’s decision to include some write-in votes in a miscellaneous “scattered” category instead of separately itemizing them under individual names.

These scattered write-in votes were still counted toward overall vote totals and did not come close to numbers that would make a difference in any of the state and federal races on the ballot. The public also had the option to observe the board’s public review of write-ins.

Still, a majority of the board is expected to approve the certification. Republican Keith Gould and Democrats Jeanette Tait, Peter Ouellette and Audrey Serniak also fill unpaid seats on the board.

Gould told the election inquiry committee the board and election bureau have issues to work on in future elections, but he believes “our adjudication process worked.”

Despite some issues with poll workers and late starts, Gould said he did not hear of anyone denied the right to vote. All voters in line when polls closed at 8 p.m. were permitted to vote, he said.

Serniak told the committee she believes the adjudication process “worked very well” and complied with state guidance. She pointed out some polling places seemed a “bit crowded” and could be improved with additional signs.

“I really had no problem with the adjudication or certifying the election,” Serniak said.

Ouellette also has said there is no reason to refuse certification or question the election outcome.

Dombroski-Gebhardt also has said she wants an audit of at least 10% of the ballots before she would certify.

Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo said the election code does not authorize individuals to request or demand an audit. The county must meet state election audit requirements, which include an automatic 2% recount, officials said.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.