As the municipal primary election approaches, Lebanon County reminds voters of crucial deadlines and the importance of submitting mail-in ballots correctly.
Sean Drasher, Director of Elections for Lebanon County, urges citizens who want to participate in the primary to register with either the Democratic or Republican Party by Monday, May 1.
Independents and third parties will not have a ballot for this primary, although some lawmakers and advocates are working to change that for future primaries.
As with previous elections where no excuses mail-in ballots were offered, the county will not offer ballot curing, a process allowing voters to correct errors on mail-in ballots. The status of ballot curing remains murky, legally speaking.
Read More: Pennsylvania court decision does little to clear up confusion over fixing mail ballots
Mail-in ballot requests must be submitted by May 9. Drasher reports that as of early last week, about one-third of requested mail-in and absentee ballots had been returned and logged, keeping the county on schedule.
Drasher said that although the county has a sufficient number of poll workers, more canvassers are needed to work at the courthouse on Election Day.
Drasher also said that the county’s new Falcon mail sorter has greatly improved efficiency in the weeks leading up to the election. Logic & Accuracy (L&A) testing, an end-to-end test of all election equipment, was completed successfully a few weeks ago. Drasher emphasized the thoroughness of L&A testing, noting that thousands of test ballots are run through the machines to ensure accuracy before every live election.
Read More: County officials approve mail-in ballot for primary; ballots to be mailed this week
The municipal primary election will be held Tuesday, May 16. For more information, visit the Lebanon County elections website, which has sample ballots (PDF) and a polling place lookup feature available.
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