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Following discussions at the election board's meeting, the commissioners said they want a week to think about the policy, to make sure it's clear and that voters would not be disenfranchised by it.
"The intent of a policy like this is to make certain that the board of elections can make some decisions in an orderly fashion on write-in votes," West Lampeter Township resident Immo Sulyok, who is chairman of the Lampeter-Strasburg Republican Committee, told the board.
"In doing so, we have to be certain we don't eliminate by policy the possibility that we can clearly distinguish what a voter intended to do."
According to Mary Stehman, chief clerk of the election board, the electronic voting system employed by the county in 2006 has simplified the way voters can write in votes on their ballots.
In the spring primary election, about 13,000 write-in votes were cast.
With that many votes being cast, Stehman said, the county needs a policy defining when a write-in vote is to be accepted and when it's to be rejected, since voters might write a candidate's name in a variety of ways.
For example, she said, someone might write in fictitious candidate Ronald C. Fry Jr.'s name as "Ron Fry," "Ron Frey," "R. Fry" or "Ronny Fry."
Currently, a county judge must determine which votes are acceptable. And Stehman said judges have no county policy to guide their decisions.
The election board hopes establishing a policy would eliminate the need to take all questionable write-in votes to a county judge for certification.
Only votes specifically challenged by someone would be reviewed by a judge.
Under the proposed policy, all of the examples listed would automatically be accepted as votes for "Ronald C. Fry Jr." as long as there is no other registered voter whose name could be confused with whichever variation a voter writes on the ballot.
If there is more than one "Ron Fry," for example, then a vote for "Ron Fry" cannot be accepted as a vote for "Ronald C. Fry Jr."
"We can't assume who the voter intended the vote for," said Diane Skilling, deputy registrar for the county Office of Voter Registration.
One section of the proposed policy that the commissioners questioned is a rule that a write-in vote which lists only a candidate's first name would automatically be rejected.
The commissioners agreed with Sulyok's observation that if the candidate's first name is unique, then it would be clear whom the voter was voting for.
The commissioners plan to revisit the proposed policy at the Oct. 21 meeting of the election board, which immediately follows the 9:15 a.m. commissioners' meeting on the seventh floor of the county building at 150 N. Queen St.
In other business Wednesday, the election board proposed changing the locations of four polling places in the county for the Nov. 3 general election.
Following are the changes proposed:
• In Columbia Borough's 5th Ward, the board wants to move the polling place from Susquehanna Fire Company No. 4 to St. Peter's Apartments, 400 Union St.
Stehman said the polling place had been at St. Peter's for many years, but moved to the fire company for the last election due to construction work at the apartment complex.
That work is now finished, she said, and so the polling place is moving back.
• In Drumore Township, the board wants to move the polling place from the township's office building to Chestnut Level Family Life Center, 1068 Chestnut Level Road.
Stehman said committee people in the township requested the change because there is more room for parking at Chestnut Level.
• In Elizabethtown Borough's 3rd Ward, 3rd Precinct, the board wants to move the polling place from East High Elementary School to Emmanuel Baptist Church, 25 Beechwood Lane.
Stehman said Elizabethtown Area School District Superintendent Amy Slamp cited concerns about security in requesting that the polling place be moved out of the school.
• In Lancaster city's 9th Ward, 2nd Precinct, the board wants to move the polling place from the old YMCA building on North Queen Street to the new YMCA facility at 265 Harrisburg Ave.
This change is being requested, Stehman said, because the new YMCA building recently opened its doors.
Anyone who objects to the proposed changes should contact the county elections office or attend the election board's Oct. 21 meeting.
The election board is scheduled to take a final vote on the proposed changes at that meeting.
