Luzerne County’s volunteer five-citizen Election Board started discussing changes Wednesday that could reduce the extensive time commitment required on Election Day and in the subsequent adjudication — without compromising oversight.
Rick Morelli, a prior county councilman appointed to the board in January, said more efficiency is needed to make serving possible for citizens who work during the day.
Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro, the other council-appointed Republican on the board, replied that she chooses to take time off work in the periods after every election because the time obligation is made clear when citizens apply for the seat.
One possible change would be having the election bureau handle data entry for write-in votes and ballots in which voters picked too many candidates. The board took over more of this work in recent elections due to election bureau leadership turnover and the administration’s failure to supply adequate manpower.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo told the board Wednesday “it’s a lot to ask board members to sit in front of a screen and input information.” She committed to providing additional trained workers and written standard operating procedures to free up the board.
County Acting Election Director Emily Cook said she will draft proposed procedures for the board’s consideration in July.
Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she is open to transitioning more work to the bureau as long as there are clear protocols for the processing but agreed with Fusaro that she would personally want to be present to monitor the work.
Cook stressed the board would remain in control of all decisions related to the acceptance and rejection of ballots and voter selections.
Another possible change would set aside flagged ballots so a board quorum could make decisions at scheduled intervals instead of on-the-spot as issues arise.
Board member Daniel Schramm said he is open to the changes, noting he would be able to keep better track of processing if he is observing instead of entering data.
Board member Albert Schlosser agreed with Schramm and said he would consider any options as long as the board is ensuring all ballots are reviewed fairly.
“I don’t think the public realizes how much is involved,” Schlosser said.
Date issue
At the recommendation of county Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino, the board did not discuss the possibility of pre-printing the full year on mail ballot return envelopes for the Nov. 5 general election.
As part of a state redesign of the actual mail ballots that took effect in all counties for the 2024 primary, the “20” start of the year was pre-filled, and voters were supposed to write in “24” at the end.
The county had 111 mail ballots with the last two year digits left blank. The board voted 4-1 to accept them because everything else was in order.
Molino told the board Wednesday the state’s directive on the redesign did not give counties discretion on pre-printing all four digits of the year.
More importantly, Molino advised against deliberating while litigation is pending on the subject.
In the tight primary race for the Republican 117th House District nomination, candidate Jamie Walsh filed an appeal to Commonwealth Court seeking to throw out six of the 111 accepted ballots because the voters last two digits of the year were not filled in.
Walsh’s legal counsel argues a full date is required as affirmed by a 2023 Supreme Court decision.
A three-judge county court panel said the pre-printed 20 was specifically produced for the 2024 primary election and “therefore, it would stand to reason that the date, as written, could only be for the calendar year 2024.”
Walsh and incumbent Michael Cabell are currently three votes apart, with Walsh in the lead.
Chair selection
The board unanimously voted Wednesday to add a chairperson selection procedure to its bylaws proposed by Williams.
Under the county’s home rule charter, the four council-appointed election board members — two Republicans and two Democrats — select a fifth board member/chairperson of any affiliation or no affiliation.
Williams was unanimously selected for the fifth chair seat in April 2021, and her term expires April 20, 2025.
Before selecting Williams, the board advertised the seat and publicly interviewed applicants.
The bylaw change adopted Wednesday formalizes the procedure to publicly advertise the seat and interview applicants using questions pre-determined by the board and reviewed by the county law office.
Poll worker training
Poll workers receive $195 to work Election Day in addition to a $20 training stipend.
Williams said she sought discussion on the stipend after learning some poll workers received $40 stipends if they attended both a regular training and a special electronic poll book training before the April 23 primary election.
Williams said she is supportive of the additional poll book training stipend but questioned why it was provided without the board’s knowledge or approval or advance disclosure to poll workers. She plans a board vote in July.
Fusaro concurred, saying the additional stipend was warranted but should have been put before the board for a vote.
Crocamo said she believes the stipend was added because the training was mandatory with the implementation of new electronic poll books for voter sign-in this year. She added $20 is “well worth it.”
Election praise
Newport Township resident Theodore Fitzgerald brought a cake to Wednesday’s meeting to show he was impressed with the performance of the board and election bureau for the April 23 primary election.
He urged them to keep on the same path for the Nov. 5 presidential general election and cautioned against any changes that will disrupt the election bureau.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
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