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Luzerne County’s Election Bureau has identified an “isolated incident” that caused 31 voters to receive two Nov. 4 general election mail ballots, county Election Director Emily Cook announced Tuesday.
The duplicate ballots stemmed from an “apparent SURE system error,” her release said.
Officially the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors, SURE is the database that keeps voter registration information in all 67 counties.
”Following a comprehensive review of all 25,000 mail ballot records distributed to voters last week, the bureau confirmed that this issue was limited in scope,” the release said.
The county reported the matter to the Pennsylvania Department of State and provided the state with all relevant information “to assist with identifying the root cause of the SURE system error that caused duplicate ballots to be generated without triggering a warning or rejection upon receipt of the applications,” it said.
“Upon discovery, the bureau took immediate action to begin contacting the affected voters, informing them of the situation, and ensuring that only their valid ballot is submitted and counted,” it said.
The second duplicate ballots were promptly cancelled in the SURE system before any ballots were accepted by the bureau, it said.
“To further safeguard the integrity of the election process, the bureau will closely monitor the return of ballots to ensure that only one ballot per voter is counted,” the release said, adding that the bureau “remains committed to transparency, accuracy, and the security of every vote.”
Cook said Tuesday she learned about the matter from two impacted voters.
Each mail ballot comes with a white outer return envelope containing a bar code that must be scanned upon arrival in the bureau to identify the voter.
Officials have said this unique bar code is a safeguard because it only allows one ballot per voter.
However, Cook said the 31 voters in this situation each received ballots with two unique bar codes, raising questions about why SURE permitted a second ballot to be generated.
Impacted voters who did not yet speak to the bureau should contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing [email protected], Cook said.
Ballots returned by the 31 voters will be segregated to ensure their votes are counted, Cook said.
The bureau issued mail ballots last week, but Cook said no returned ballots had been recorded as received by the bureau when the problem with the 31 voters was discovered.
State Gov. Josh Shapiro and his administration announced plans in March to implement a new streamlined elections management system that will replace multiple current elections-related programs, including SURE.
Civix, a leading provider of government technology solutions, was selected to provide the new system following a public procurement and review process, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said at the time.
The new system will be implemented in phases and is scheduled for completion by 2028, the state said.
The SURE system has served as the statewide voter database since 2003, and Schmidt said in a release it has undergone extensive upgrades and security enhancements in the last 22 years.
Regarding county mail ballots, a drop box has been set up inside the county’s Penn Place Building at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre. The second drop box in the county-owned Broad Street Business Exchange in Hazleton is expected to be set up Wednesday, Cook said.
A schedule of the drop box availability will be posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
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