Luzerne County Election Board vows to resolve ballot problems

Luzerne County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams expressed displeasure over recent ballot errors Wednesday, saying a meeting must be held after the Nov. 2 general election to implement a permanent fix.

“What will it take to solve this problem once and for all?” Williams asked during Wednesday’s board meeting. “It’s got to be figured out.”

In other matters, the county announced the addition of Saturday hours for its mail ballot drop box in Wilkes-Barre and called for more poll worker applicants.

Newly appointed Republican board member Patrick Castellani, of Butler Township, also attended Wednesday’s meeting but did not deliberate or vote because he was not yet sworn in.

Ballot errors

Mail ballots the county sent to 323 Plymouth Township voters incorrectly stated one supervisor seat was open instead of the correct two seats, while the names of the unopposed candidates for tax collector and constable were switched on ballots sent to 259 Bear Creek Township voters. The county sent corrected replacement ballots to impacted voters in both townships Monday.

Swoyersville Ward 2 council candidate Ryan Binkley, who is running as both a Republican nominee and non-affiliated contender, did not have the non-affiliated designation printed by his name on mail ballots sent to 220 voters there. Binkley did not want corrected ballots to be sent.

In all three municipalities, county Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo said the mistakes were made by the county’s voting system vendor — Dominion Voting Systems Inc. — and not detected by the county election bureau when it proofed and signed off on the ballots in late August or early September.

Crocamo told the board she will present specific procedures after the election to address proofing and other factors that led to the errors. Ballots at polling places will be correct on Election Day, she said.

Williams said she sent an email stating she and board Vice Chairman Richard Nardone want to meet with Dominion leadership and the county’s election bureau and IT representatives after the general election to thoroughly discuss the matter.

Both Dominion and the bureau had promised increased proofing after headers of Republican ballots at polling places were incorrectly labeled as Democratic ones in the May primary, but another problem with proofing has now surfaced, Williams said.

One option may be in-house ballot programming, instead of relying on Dominion, but that would depend on whether the bureau leadership has the knowledge, willingness and time to take on the task and training support provided by Dominion, Williams said.

Ballot drop boxes

Completed mail ballots must be received in the county election bureau by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 2, and the county is now advising voters to use drop boxes instead of regular mail due to the looming deadline.

The county’s box inside the Penn Place building at 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Wilkes-Barre will be open this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Crocamo said Wednesday. That box also will be open as previously announced from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Monday and until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

The three other drop boxes will be available Thursday, Friday and Monday. The locations and hours on those three days:

• Pittston Memorial Library, 47 Broad St., Pittston — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Hazleton City Hall, 40 N. Church St. — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department, 477 South Main Road, Mountain Top — 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In total, 24,648 county voters requested ballots by Tuesday’s deadline, officials said.

Poll workers

While more poll workers have signed up in response to recent pleas, the county still needs three judges of elections and numerous inspectors and machine operators Nov. 2, county Deputy Election Director Eryn Harvey told the board.

Poll workers must be registered voters in the county, and training will be provided. Information is available by calling 570-825-1715 or emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.

Poll workers receive $195 to work Election Day in addition to $20 for training.

After learning all workers automatically received the $20 with or without training, the board had voted Oct. 8 to only pay the additional stipend to those participating in training. However, Williams said Wednesday the board learned election bureau staffers have been informing general election poll workers they will be paid $215, apparently unaware of the board’s Oct. 8 training caveat.

Williams said the $20 cost county taxpayers $11,660 in the primary because 583 poll workers did not undergo training, and a similar number — 579 — have not participated in training for the upcoming general election.

However, the board decided Wednesday its only option was to pay the $20 to all poll workers one last time because the bureau had not informed the workers it hinged on training. Board members expressed concern withholding the pay now would cause some poll workers to back out, exacerbating the shortage.

Crocamo said her upcoming recommendations will include a mechanism to ensure the bureau executes all election board mandates.

Starting with next year’s primary, the board had decided first-time poll workers won’t be permitted to work unless they attend a training, and all poll workers must attend at least one training annually.

Sending alerts

Crocamo announced the election bureau has launched a new mass communication tool that allows staff to instantly send email/text alerts to more than 900 poll workers at over 180 locations.

The board pushed for such a tool because it would have informed poll workers about the ballot header issue in May.

Crocamo said the system allows a consistent message to all poll workers or targeted groups. For example, the first text message was sent to all poll workers who had not yet signed up for training, prompting some immediate responses, she said.

In the future, the county plans to use the system to recruit poll workers and send them feedback surveys.