The two prior Luzerne County Election Board members who conducted a sample review of mail ballot drop box surveillance footage agreed Thursday that no absolute conclusions can be made on their findings unless additional documentation is located.
Former board members James Mangan and Audrey Serniak had volunteered to spend hours reviewing footage from two November 2022 general election drop box locations.
They found the number of voters dropping off ballots in both locations was significantly lower than the number of ballots recorded as received on a spreadsheet compiled by the election bureau.
To determine if the bureau’s spreadsheet was accurate, Mangan and Serniak sought the original “chain of custody” forms the board required when teams of sheriff deputies deliver drop box contents to the election bureau.
However, the election bureau does not have a handy copy of these forms. Paperwork associated with the November 2022 general election is stored in approximately 100 boxes at the county’s voting equipment warehouse near the courthouse, workers say. A bureau worker did not find any boxes labeled as containing those forms, which means the contents of each box would have to be searched to determine if the forms were retained as required.
Engrossed in April 23 primary election preparations, the short-staffed bureau does not have resources to sift through all the boxes at this time, workers say.
Mangan expressed frustration the original forms have not been located and emphasized he is in no way implying any wrongdoing on the part of sheriff deputies.
“In my opinion, we conducted an extensive review of the video, so at the end of the day, the discrepancy lies between the spreadsheet and the number of voters,” said Mangan, a Republican.
Mangan had proposed the bipartisan board spot-checking of surveillance footage last year, saying the board had agreed to require surveillance of all drop boxes and has an obligation to take a look at some of the resulting footage.
Serniak, a Democrat, said she is not certain the spreadsheet is correct and said any future sample reviews should compare the number of voters to original custody forms to eliminate the potential for error in summary sheets.
“I think the spreadsheets may be off,” Serniak said. “When you rely on a spreadsheet it is not best because it is one step removed from the original document. You have to go back to the original.”
Serniak added: “Personally, I think they need to start from scratch.”
Approved by the board in 2021, the drop box chain of custody protocol says only designated sheriff deputies and employees are permitted to collect ballots from the boxes, always in teams of two.
A team member must unlock the drop box access door and remove ballots in full view of the other. The pair then records the date and time of opening on a collection form and the number of ballots retrieved on a transmittal form before the ballots are placed in a locking transport bag.
The team must transfer custody of the bag to a full-time election bureau employee, who must then call another employee to witness the bag opening and content withdrawal. The bureau worker must announce the ballot count and record the number on a collection form after verification by the colleague.
Sheriff deputies receive a copy of the form, which prompted questions about whether these copies would still be available from November 2022. Sheriff Brian Szumski said Thursday his department does not store these copies because the records are generated and maintained by the election bureau — not his office.
The bipartisan review came up during a discussion about drop boxes at Wednesday’s meeting, when Election Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro stated the findings as reported by Mangan.
According to these initial findings: At the first location, surveillance showed approximately 30 voters dropped off ballots, but the bureau spreadsheet said 247 ballots were received. In the second location, approximately 15 voters were viewed, but the spreadsheet indicated 130 ballots were retrieved.
Mangan and Serniak said they did not observe any voters dropping off batches of ballots.
Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she will seek further discussion on the matter at a future meeting.
“Maybe the spreadsheet numbers are wrong. We’ve had that happen many times with post-election reconciliation reports prepared by multiple election directors,” Williams said.
Williams also questioned if the review team missed any portion of the sample period correlating to the spreadsheet counts.
Mangan said he has full confidence they viewed every voter depositing a ballot.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
Dallas Post
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