Fate of Back Mountain mail ballot drop box unclear

It’s now unclear if Luzerne County will have a mail ballot drop box at Misericordia University in Dallas Township for the Nov. 8 general election, officials said Wednesday.

Township supervisors have called a special meeting for tonight night to discuss the ballot box, prompting speculation some type of ban will be approved.

Misericordia may be unwilling to continue hosting a box if there is a ban.

County Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora said drop boxes have been placed at the three other approved locations, but the county held off on delivery of the Misericordia box due to the pending action in Dallas Township. The county did not want to place a box at Misericordia if there is a chance it won’t be used and would have to be immediately retrieved, Pecora said.

The three other boxes are inside the county-owned Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre, the Pittston Memorial Library and the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department.

There won’t be a mailbox-style box in Hazleton City Hall as usual for the general election because city officials wanted to move the box to a part of the building that is not under city video surveillance. Several area residents urged Hazleton City Council this week to approve drop box restrictions for future elections, officials said.

The Sugarloaf Township Police Department had agreed to host a box to service the county’s southern half, but the municipality withdrew after it received calls and complaints about the drop box plan, officials have said.

Dallas Township officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday on whether supervisors will be contemplating an outright ban or a more general statement expressing opposition to drop boxes. The agenda states only that the topic is the “Luzerne County ballot box to be placed in Dallas Township.”

An action in Butler Township had been described by some as a drop box ban, but it was actually a resolution urging the state to eliminate no-excuse mail ballots.

The county’s election bureau is set to send ballots today to more than 26,500 residents who have requested them to date. Completed ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. the night of the election to be tallied.

Dallas Township’s special meeting is at 5:30 p.m. at the township administration building, 105 Lieutenant Michael Cleary Drive. In-person attendance is limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. Instructions to request a remote attendance link are posted at www.dallastwp.org.

Some residents had attended a recent Dallas Township meeting urging the municipal officials to take action regarding drop boxes.

Misericordia spokesperson Kaitlin Hall said the university was monitoring the situation. The institution had agreed to host a box at the county’s request for the convenience of voters in the Back Mountain, she said.

“As simply a host location, the university would need to coordinate with authorized election officials regarding any concerns raised about the ballot drop-off site and determine appropriate next steps,” Hall said, noting the campus also hosts an Election Day polling place for in-person voting. “The university is pleased to be able to collaborate with election officials to offer the use of appropriate facilities to support area residents.”

County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said 315 voters used the Misericordia box in the primary.

“It was well-liked by many voters, and I’m personally very thankful and grateful that Misericordia offered this service to the voters,” Williams said. “They had a box for the primary with no issues or incidents. Everything was fine. Now all of a sudden this is a problem?”

Williams sees a pattern of people putting pressure on municipal officials as part of a “campaign” to get rid of drop boxes.

The board requires drop box hosts to perform round-the-clock video recording of the boxes and has strict chain-of-custody protocols on removing and delivering the ballots to the bureau, Williams said.

Critics have argued boxes should not be offered because they are not mandated by state law.

The box inside Penn Place remains the most popular, with 2,043 ballots received there in the primary, Williams said. The count of ballots received in the other boxes: Wright Township, 388; Hazleton, 202; and Pittston, 712.