Luzerne County adding three mail ballot drop boxes

Luzerne County will offer three mail ballot drop boxes in addition to one inside the county’s downtown Wilkes-Barre Penn Place building used heavily during last year’s presidential election.

The county Election Board voted Wednesday to approve the election bureau’s request to add boxes inside the Hazleton, Nanticoke and Pittston city hall buildings.

This means the county will have drop boxes in all four cities for the convenience of May 18 primary election mail ballot voters, officials said.

Deputy Election Director Eryn Harvey said the boxes will be screwed into position and are designed to prevent tampering or removal.

As a security precaution, two county sheriff deputies or other authorized representatives will be required to remove and transport the ballots to the county election bureau at Penn Place, county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo told the board.

The Hazleton, Nanticoke and Pittston sites were chosen because they are in cities and population centers, said county Election Director Bob Morgan.

More than 19,000 county voters have requested mail ballots for the upcoming primary to date — an option added last year with no excuse or justification required. The deadline to apply for mail ballots is May 11, or a week before the primary, although state and county officials urge interested voters to act sooner if possible.

The three new drop boxes will be installed as soon as possible so they are ready when the county sends ballots to mail voters, Harvey said. A date has not been set for the ballot mailing. The election bureau is proofing the ballots that will vary in each jurisdiction because of municipal, school and other local races that are up for grabs this cycle.

All four board members approved the drop box plan — Richard Nardone, Kathryn Roth, Audrey Serniak and Missy Thomas.

Adding boxes in more municipal buildings may be a future goal, although expansion would depend on the number of workers available to retrieve and deliver the box contents daily, Serniak said.

Thomas said a box may be moved to another location if it is underutilized at one of the city sites in the primary.

Poll workers

Registered voters are needed to serve as poll workers in 17 municipalities with vacancies, Harvey said before Wednesday’s meeting.

After reviewing staffing in all 186 voting precincts throughout the county, Harvey said shortages were identified in the following municipalities:

• Nanticoke

• The boroughs of Avoca, Exeter, Hughestown, Larksville, New Columbus, West Wyoming and Wyoming

• The townships of Butler, Fairview, Hanover, Jenkins, Kingston, Newport, Pittston, Rice and Wright

A mix of clerks, machine operators, inspectors and judges are needed at polling places in these municipalities, Harvey said.

Vacancies have been a persistent problem here and throughout the state, in part because some veteran poll workers are aging and no longer willing or able to perform the task, officials have said.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Workers must arrive at the polling place at 6 a.m. to ensure proper set-up and opening of the voting systems.

Residents interested in working on Election Day can fill out the online application through the election department poll worker link at luzernecounty.org or contact the election office at 570-825-1715.

Election chair

The board has received several applications for the fifth board chair seat.

Board members had issued a plea for applicants last week because all three it had received were prohibited from serving under county home rule charter restrictions.

The county law office already vetted the new applications received in recent days and verified the applicants have no conflicts under the charter, Crocamo said, adding that any subsequent submissions will be promptly reviewed.

Letters of intent and resumes for the unpaid leadership post will be accepted through Monday, with information posted on the election page. The board plans to publicly interview applicants and select a chair at its next meeting at 5 p.m. on April 21.