HARVEYS LAKE, Pa. — On Election Day last November, voting in Luzerne County became a national news story when dozens of polling places ran out of ballot paper. This time, the elections bureau has opted to return to paper ballots.
On Tuesday morning, it was smooth sailing at a polling place at Harveys Lake.
"Nice and smooth, very nice. The good part so you come, come to buy cookies. That's the good part. If they didn't sell stuff, I'd be very disappointed," Joe James said.
"It actually is going very smoothly as far as that goes," David Sebolka said.
In November, this was one of the polling places that ran out of ballot paper on the morning of Election Day, causing confusion and concern for many voters.
"I didn't have a bad experience last time, but this was very smooth. Everybody explained everything, and they knew what they were talking about," Janie James said.
This time around, the Luzerne County Elections Bureau opted for paper ballots, where voters make their selections by hand. Newswatch 16 received some complaints that the boxes for write-ins were not big enough and the felt tip markers provided were not suitable for the job.
"Every vote is going to be important to be counted. And if it's all smudged and they can't read it, they won't be counted," Sebolka said.
Each polling place has a single voting machine if voters have a reason that they cannot fill out a paper ballot on their own.
Some see the shift to paper ballots as a step back.
"Machines work, they're safe. There's no problem. So there's no problem with this either. The fact that we're voting is the key. I think that's the key. If you want to be a good citizen, then you want to sound off in the bar or sound off like a Little League field, fine. Vote. That's where you really sound off, I think," Kevin Lynn said.
Voter turnout Tuesday morning was low but steady.
Polls close at 8 p.m.