Luzerne County Election Board set to hire outside legal counsel

First a Luzerne County Council majority hired outside legal counsel to challenge the county election board’s decision to place the district attorney race on the November election ballot.

Now the five-citizen election board is set to vote Wednesday on appointing its own outside attorney to provide legal defense against council’s suit, which was filed earlier this month in county court.

County Acting Chief Solicitor Vito DeLuca said Monday the board’s outside counsel is necessary because his office can’t get involved when two parties it represents — in this case, council and the board — are on opposite sides in litigation.

The court action stems from conflicting interpretations on what must happen now that DA Sam Sanguedolce is filling the seat vacated by prior DA Stefanie Salavantis.

An election board majority concluded new state legislation requires the seat to be on the ballot this November, although it has not yet decided if the term should be two or four years. The litigation filed by county council and Sanguedolce argues the race should not be on the ballot until 2023 with an elected term of four years.

Council hired Stevens & Lee to file its litigation. Sanguedolce retained Philadelphia-based Kleinbard LLC and is named as a plaintiff because he is the current office holder.

DeLuca said Monday he is recommending the election board retain Attorney Joseph M. Cosgrove because Cosgrove researched and wrote a legal opinion that the board considered in its decision to place the race on the ballot in the first place.

“That would be the best choice since he was already involved,” DeLuca said of Cosgrove.

Cosgrove had been brought in by the law office to provide an opinion after there was disagreement within the law office on how the election board should be advised to proceed.

County Assistant Solicitor Michael Butera had argued the race cannot be on the ballot until the 2023 primary because nominees must be selected through a primary in a municipal election year, and the vacancy came too late for candidates to run in this year’s May primary.

Cosgrove took a position the new statute requires the DA race to be on the ballot this November because it is the next municipal election. The law office as a whole had concurred with Cosgrove’s position, Romilda Crocamo has said. Crocamo is chief solicitor but temporarily stepped away from that position to serve as acting county manager.

Now that a suit has been filed, the election board needs legal counsel to prepare a timely response, DeLuca said. The election board must publicly vote to bring its outside legal counsel on board, he said.

Election consultant

The election board also will hear a presentation Wednesday from The Elections Group, which is a consultant Crocamo plans to hire for $70,000 to assist the county election bureau and administration in the November general.

Crocamo agreed to hold off on signing the contract until Wednesday’s public briefing after questions were raised by some council members since she announced the plan Friday.

But Crocamo said Monday she does not require county council approval because budgeted funds are available to cover the expense.

Election board approval also is not necessary, Crocamo said. The board is free to vote on whether it wants to accept Elections Group’s services, but Crocamo said the consultant will respond to any board requests for assistance or support with or without a vote at no additional charge.

Possible special assignments for The Elections Group may include work with mail ballot drop boxes, poll worker recruitment and protocols to ensure the security of ballots, Crocamo said.

The Elections Group will supplement the board and bureau’s efforts and “provide a fresh perspective,” Crocamo has said.

Speaking personally, county Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said Monday she wholeheartedly supports a culture of continued election improvement and is grateful Crocamo also has made this a priority.

Williams said her main question is whether the Pennsylvania Department of State will clear use of the consultant. She does not want any election processes compromised due to state concerns about a consultant’s involvement.

Secondly, Williams said she wants the election bureau management to publicly state whether it is supportive of the consultant. Spending public funds on an outside consultant would not make sense if there is resistance from within, she said.

“Is the leadership willing and open to recommendations from the consultant? I’d want to hear buy-in,” Williams said.

County Councilman Walter Griffith sent numerous emails questioning the consulting decision and said he will be asking questions at Wednesday’s election board meeting.

Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck also argued the outsourcing is unnecessary and that that the selection procedure and determination of necessity were not transparent.

“Mark my words. If council does not stand up to the manager and demand to be respected as a partner in this government, the legislative branch of government will blend into the executive branch as irrelevant, and this county will be run by one person,” she wrote.

Drop boxes

As previously requested by the board, the election bureau has obtained prices for larger mail ballot drop boxes resembling postal mail boxes that are too heavy and bulky for a person to steal, Wednesday’s board agenda said.

The bureau received prices from four vendors. The cost for four new boxes ranges from $2,796 to $12,468

In the May primary, the county had provided three counter-top mail ballot drop boxes at the Pittston Memorial Library and Hazleton and Nanticoke city halls in addition to one previously available at the county’s Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

If approved, the boxes would only be placed inside buildings with security cameras.

The bureau also submitted a board-requested policy on how the mail ballots would be secured and collected, an agenda attachment said.

A summary:

Only designated sheriff deputies and employees will be permitted to collect ballots, always in teams of two. Staff members must take an oath prior to collecting.

Upon arrival, team members must first inspect the collection container for any signs of tampering or vandalism, which would warrant an immediate report to law enforcement.

If none is found, a team member may unlock the access door and remove ballots in full view of the other. They must record the date and time of opening on a collection form and state the number of ballots retrieved on a transmittal form. The ballots are then placed in a locking transfer bag for transport to the election bureau.

Once the ballot box container and surrounding floor area are checked to ensure no ballots were missed or dropped, both team members must sign the collection form and note the time of departure and place that form in the transfer bag.

Team members must lock and jointly check the bag and ballot box access door to ensure they are secure.

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 site collection form after verification by the colleague.

The newly arrived ballots are then time-stamped. Once the outer envelope bar codes are scanned to log receipt in the state tracking system, the ballots are stored in a locked storage room that can only be accessed by a team of full-time bureau employees. This room is under round-the-clock surveillance, and tamper-proof seals are placed on the lock and door frame at the end of each business day when ballots are stored inside.

Wednesday’s board meeting starts at 5 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. A link to attend virtually is on council’s authorities/boards/commissions public meetings online section at luzernecounty.org.