Luzerne County s new election director has local roots and lots of experience in elections administration — including helping out with the county s Nov. 2 election.
As of Monday, 18,880 Luzerne County voters requested mail-in ballots for the May 18 primary election, county election director Bob Morgan said.
With 256 requests for absentee ballots received so far, that means 19,136 voters in the county have requested to vote by mail with five weeks to go before the primary.
Statewide, more than 587,000 voters have applied for mail-in ballots and more than 18,000 voters have applied for absentee ballots for the primary, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This year, unlike most primary elections, some of those requests might come from voters registered with third parties or registered as nonpartisan.
Those voters may not select candidates in the Democratic and Republican primaries, but they may vote on four statewide ballot questions.
Luzerne County Manager David Pedri has suspended the search for a new county election director, after two applicants withdrew and two others did not pass muster with an interview panel