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Luzerne County will hold a Feb. 27 public demonstration of the five paper-trail voting machines from vendors currently competing for contracts in Pennsylvania, Election Director Marisa Crispell said at Wednesday’s county election board meeting.
The demonstration will run 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Mandated by the state, the new voting machines are estimated to cost $4 million. County officials have said they don’t want to proceed with a purchase until they determine what, if any, state funding will be provided. The county has received a commitment of $327,000 in federal funding for new voting machines.
Crispell encouraged the public to participate in the demonstration, saying citizens will have an opportunity to practice voting on the machines and provide input on their favorites.
There are two ways to meet the paper-trail requirement — filling in ovals on actual paper or making selections on a computerized touchscreen ballot-marking device similar to the way it’s done now, with the difference that voters must hit a button to print the ballot instead of casting it, Crispell said.
Both types of machines will be on display at the demonstration. The participating vendors: Clear Ballot Group, Dominion Voting Systems, Election Systems and Software, Hart InterCivic and Unisyn Voting Solutions.
Wednesday’s board meeting was informational only because only two of four sitting board members attended — Peter Ouellette and Keith Gould — preventing a quorum required for decisions. Ouellette and Gould encouraged citizens to apply for a fifth vacant board seat that must be filled by a registered Democrat, with application information posted on the authorities/boards/commissions section at www.luzernecounty.org.
Some other updates Crispell provided Wednesday:
• Prospective May 21 primary candidates can start picking up election packets from the election office on the second floor of the Penn Place Building at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue on Feb. 11.
• A 2018 state law has eliminated the requirement for incumbent district judges to gather signatures to have their name appear on the primary ballot. Three incumbents are up for election this year: Joseph Zola, Alexandra Kokura Kravtiz and Michael G. Dotzel, said Crispell. If these incumbents file certificates saying they want to run for office without petition signatures, they must waive the right to challenge another candidate’s petition.
• Three county Court of Common Pleas judges have filed declarations of candidacy with the Pennsylvania Department of State — William Amesbury, Thomas F. Burke and Tina Polachek Gartley. Questions asking voters if they want to retain these incumbents will appear on the November ballot, Crispell said.
• Municipalities and school districts have until Feb. 19 to notify Crispell’s office of the seats that must appear on the primary ballot. Because that is also the same date candidates can start circulating petitions, Crispell said she will try to verify and publicly post a list sooner so the public knows which seats are available.