Like the balloting itself, the official canvass of Tuesday's general election in Lackawanna County is expected to produce few surprises.
The count, which got under way Friday at the Department of Elections on Stafford Avenue, will continue into next week, director of elections Marion Medalis said.
The most time-consuming task will be evaluating the approximately 400 provisional ballots cast Tuesday, she said.
A provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there is a question about a voter's eligibility.
For instance, a voter whose name does not appear in the poll book, or the list of registered voters in a district, may cast a provisional ballot pending confirmation of their eligibility.
As of Friday, only about half of the provisionals had been reviewed to determine whether the voter was eligible to cast a ballot and, if so, whether the ballot should be counted in full or in part.
"That's the biggest thing - going through those provisionals," Mrs. Medalis said.
Her department must also wait until Wednesday to count about 300 late-arriving absentee ballots.
Under state law, voters were required to return their absentee ballots by Nov. 2. However, that deadline was pushed back to Monday under an extension granted by Gov. Tom Corbett for counties affected by Superstorm Sandy.
The order said any ballots received during the extension period were not to be counted until eight days after the election.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@ timesshamrock.com