Resolution reached in election board requests for tour and mail ballot logs | Dallas Post

Luzerne County’s Election Board and the county administration came to a resolution Wednesday on two outstanding board requests involving a tour of the voting equipment warehouse and a search for November 2022 general election drop box ballot return logs.

Board members requested the tour to learn about security upgrades that had been funded by a state Election Integrity Grant.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo had wanted to put off the visit until after the April 23 primary election because all warehouse visitors must be accompanied by election bureau staff, and these workers are immersed in election preparations.

Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said during Wednesday’s meeting that Crocamo agreed Wednesday to squeeze in a “really quick tour” for no more than an hour.

Board member Rick Morelli said everyone must respect the election bureau’s time as it prepares for the primary, and a brief tour will comply with the board’s right to view security enhancements before the primary.

The ballot return log search was requested as part of a spot-check review of drop box video surveillance footage performed by a prior bipartisan board team.

This search is no longer necessary because the board has received copies of the logs, Williams announced.

The county’s information technology department searched computer records and found scans of the logs that had been stored from the period of the November 2022 election, eliminating the need to search through approximately 100 boxes of records to find them.

The board’s prior bipartisan team had observed the number of voters dropping off ballots in two locations was significantly lower than the number of ballots recorded as received. The team based its ballot count on a staff-compiled spreadsheet, and the “chain of custody” logs were sought to make sure the spreadsheet was accurate.

Williams said Wednesday the logs line up with the spreadsheet, which means the surveillance footage must be reviewed again to determine if any segments of footage were missed to account for the voter-count difference.

The task of viewing the footage a second time will fall on Williams and board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro because they were both selected Wednesday as the new members of the bi-partisan review team.

Fusaro emphasized the board will report its findings back to the public and that the matter won’t be dropped.

The board also approved Fusaro’s proposal to ensure future spreadsheets match the official return logs during the pre-certification election reconciliation process so there are no questions about the accuracy of figures in future spot-check reviews.

Williams and Fusaro also will come up with a formal written policy on how sample surveillance checks will be conducted, including procedures to verify all footage is complete and reviewed in a way that no voters can be missed.

Election updates

The county’s new electronic poll books from Knowink are scheduled for delivery Thursday, county Acting Election Director Emily Cook told the board.

Used for voter sign-in, these books instantly allow poll workers to search data for voters in the wrong polling place and streamline the process of crediting voters for casting ballots in the state’s voter database.

Poll worker training on the new electronic poll books is set to start next week, Cook said. The bureau also will make resources available to workers unable to attend this training, including an online class, she said.

Acting Election Deputy Director Steve Hahn said work has been underway to make sure all equipment is prepped, including printer ink cartridges, charged batteries and ample supplies of paper. A new shipment of 800,000 sheets of paper has been added to the warehouse stock, he noted.

Workers also have started compiling paperwork and other material that must be assembled for the judges of elections at polling places, he said.

Cook said the bureau is on schedule with all tasks able to be completed to date and said the priority is now on “mission critical” election preparations, particularly due to short-staffing.

The bureau is down three workers, and interviews are scheduled next week to fill two of the positions, she said.

“We are at the point where we are triaging what needs to be done,” Cook said.

The board also inquired about the possibility of polling place changes in Bear Creek Township due to the Laurel Run Road closure stemming from a bridge replacement project on the PA Turnpike’s Northeast Extension.

After several meetings to discuss options, Cook said the bureau has decided it will instead send a letter to voters impacted by the closure along with a mail ballot application so there is a remedy for any voters who have difficulty reaching their polling site.