Luzerne County Election Board approves two drop boxes and pilot program

Luzerne County will again provide two mail ballot drop boxes for the May 20 primary election inside county-owned buildings in Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre, a county election board majority decided Wednesday.

The box in the Penn Place Building lobby in Wilkes-Barre will have a camera and other added security features because the board also agreed Wednesday to participate in a pilot program.

This box from Runbeck Election Services photographs both the face of the person at the box and each side of the envelope inserted. It also has multiple points of internal fire suppression in the event an explosive material is somehow inserted through the opening. The slot itself is fitted to the width of a mail ballot envelope, which prevents the insertion of more than one at a time.

The standard mailbox-style drop box used in past elections will be set up inside the Broad Street Exchange Building in downtown Hazleton.

Video surveillance cameras in each building must record footage of the drop boxes throughout their use.

The election board had agreed last October to provide two drop boxes at the same locations for the November 2024 general election, concluding two additional boxes hosted by outside entities could not be deployed because they cannot be anchored to the floor or a wall.

However, assistant Solicitor Gene Molino said there was no formal board vote to provide only two boxes at that time, which is why official confirmation was necessary Wednesday.

Both actions were approved by four election board members: Chairwoman Christine Boyle, Rick Morelli, Albert Schlosser and Daniel Schramm.

Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro voted no on both.

Fusaro, a Republican, listed a series of reasons she won’t support any drop boxes Wednesday. The boxes are not mandated through legislation to comply with statewide election uniformity requirements, she said, adding she believes most voters want the boxes eliminated.

Morelli, the other Republican board member, said there were board discussions about adding a fifth drop box early last year, and the county is now down to two, which he described as a “very good compromise.” He also said both political parties should rethink their strategies if they believe two drop boxes will cause them to win or lose.

Regarding the pilot program decision, Fusaro said the election bureau did not inform the board it would be applying to participate, causing the board to be “slapped with it after the fact.”

Fusaro also questioned the cost and predicted there will be issues with ballots jamming.

Schlosser, a Democrat, said he believes the new drop box will help with election integrity and is worth trying, especially for residents who do not want to vote at polling places or rely on the postal system.

Schramm, a Democrat, said the enhanced drop box photographs those depositing ballots and links those photos to specific ballots, which is a “step forward.”

Morelli said he is pleased the county was selected to participate in the pilot and believes the expense is worthwhile to address security concerns that have been raised by drop box critics.

Boyle, a Democrat, agreed with Fusaro that she felt “caught off guard” when the pilot program was announced but said the board later had an opportunity to examine the drop box at a public demonstration. She said the new box is a “potential better way forward” as stated by Schlosser, Schramm and Morelli.

County Election Director Emily Cook said the bureau has prepared a video on the new box that will be posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org.

Approximately 50,000 county voters have requested mail ballots this year. Cook said she is aiming to start mailing them this week.

Other businesses

In other business Wednesday, the board voted to:

• Designate Boyle to serve with Fusaro on a the bipartisan board that spot-checks drop box surveillance footage — a practice initiated in 2023.

• Approve Cook, Election Deputy Director Steve Hahn and election Poll Worker Coordinator Amanda Latoski as the canvassing board members for the primary election. Fusaro voted against the appointments.

Authorized by the board last month, the staff canvassing board will handle post-election processing of flagged mail and provisional ballots during the public adjudication process to reduce the workload of the volunteer election board.