Pennsylvania County Settles 2022 Election Lawsuit over Insufficient Ballot Paper at 40 Polling Locations

Ballot Counting

A settlement was announced on Tuesday between Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and two voters who the county acknowledged were disenfranchised after election officials failed to procure a sufficient quantity of ballot paper during the 2022 midterm elections.

The lawsuit was brought by Luzerne County voters William French and Melynda Anne Reese, according to a press release from the non-profit elections ethics organization, the Center for Election Confidence (CEC).

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Pennsylvania County Rereviews 2022 Drop Box Footage, Finds More Ballots than Voters

A bipartisan election board in Luzerne County, Pa., found that the number of ballots returned to two drop boxes in the November 2022 election was roughly the amount collected, after reviewing video surveillance footage, despite an earlier review showing significant disparities.

The county board conducted a second review of the surveillance footage after an initial review found that significantly fewer ballots were dropped off than collected from the two drop boxes, the Times Leader reported Monday after the results were released ahead of the board meeting on Wednesday.

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Pennsylvania County Election Officials to Sit Out House Hearing on Midterm Ballot Paper Shortage

The House Administration Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday to investigate a ballot paper shortage that marred the midterm election in Luzerne County, Pa., but three key county election officials have declined invitations to testify.

On the morning of Election Day 2022, multiple precincts in Luzerne County experienced ballot paper shortages, which resulted in long lines, the distribution of provisional ballots to some voters, a judge’s order to extend voting hours until 10 p.m. and the delayed certification of the election by the county elections board.

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Pennsylvania County that Ran Out of Paper Ballots Doesn’t Certify Election

Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County has failed to certify the results of the Nov. 8 midterm elections by the Monday deadline.

The Board of Elections split 2-2 on certifying the results, with one abstention. The county attracted national attention after it ran out of paper ballots on Election Day. Two Republican board members opposed certification, while two Democrats backed it, and one Democrat abstained, the Epoch Times reported.

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Pennsylvania Congressional Candidate Bognet Sues Luzerne County over Election Problems

Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate Jim Bognet sued the Luzerne County Board of Elections in the county’s Court of Common Pleas this week over problems with administration of the 2022 election. 

This year, Bognet challenged incumbent Democrat Matt Cartwright to represent the Eighth Congressional District which includes Scranton, Wilks-Barre, Hazleton, Mount Pocono and neighboring communities extending northeastward to the New York and New Jersey borders. While many observers considered Cartwright’s reelection effort vulnerable, he ultimately received 51.3 percent of the 283,580 votes cast for Congress in the district while Bognet got 48.7 percent.

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