A number of mail-in voters in Luzerne County are reporting receiving two replacement ballots instead of one

Three voters in Luzerne County’s 119th Legislative District received two replacement ballots instead of one as part of a reissue to correct a misspelling of state Rep. Alec Ryncavage’s name, the county comptroller said Tuesday Walter Griffith.

County Elections Director Emily Cook said affected voters should contact the elections office to determine which ballot and envelope with a barcode should be returned.

Voters are encouraged to call the office at 570-825-1715 or email [email protected], specifying “duplicate vote” in the subject line of the email.

Cook said voters cannot independently distinguish right from wrong.

Cook said he is only aware of the three that were reported Tuesday, but there may be more.

The error stems from a single day, Oct. 11, when the office stopped issuing ballots in the 119th district because of the spelling error, Cook said. When ballots were reissued to the 6,700 mail-in voters in that district, a batch that had been in abeyance on the day of the shutdown was also included, Cook said.

As a result, those voters received both an old canceled ballot and a new reissued ballot, with both labeled as reissued, Cook said.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said more explanations about the cause will be released once it is determined.

Griffith learned of the situation because he runs an on-demand voting control station in the county’s Penn Place lobby in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

He said three voters separately submitted the two recently received ballots to inform the county and seek guidance.

Dominion Voting Systems, the county’s voting equipment supplier, had taken responsibility for the misspelling of “Tyncavage,” citing human error, and agreed to cover the cost of the corrected ballots.

The county is urging voters to complete and return replacement ballots, but the county board of elections is prepared to accept the election for Alec “Tyncavage” during its post-election adjudication if voters cast only the original ballot.

Griffith said the two-ballot situation is unfortunate because the 119th voters are already dealing with reissuing ballots.

“My concern is that we’re confusing people,” Griffith said.

Ryncavage said by text Tuesday that some voters have not yet received replacement ballots.

The elections office said voters in District 119 should contact the office if they haven’t received replacement ballots by the end of this week.

All completed mail-in ballots must be physically at the election office by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, and postmarks do not count toward meeting this deadline.

In addition to regular mail, two mail ballot boxes are available:

• Broad Street Exchange, 100 W. Broad St., Hazleton: Weekdays 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Nov. 1 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 4. This box is not available on election day.

• Penn Place Main Lobby, 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29; from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on other weekdays; and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. In addition, the box office is available on weekends from 9am to 4pm (October 26-27 and November 2-3).