Luzerne County election director reports ballot drop box incident

Luzerne County Election Director Michael Susek detected and reported a mail ballot drop box incident Wednesday afternoon, according to an email he sent to the election board and other county officials.

A synopsis of the matter presented in his communication:

Susek and election bureau administrative assistant Miles Thomas went to the drop box on the first floor of the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to retrieve ballots around 1 p.m. Wednesday after receiving notice the box was nearing capacity.

After Susek and Thomas placed the ballots in a transfer bag, a woman entered the vestibule with four ballots.

Susek informed her she could not drop off the ballots of others by law unless the other voters were disabled and had completed a state-mandated form authorizing delivery on their behalf. He asked if she had the required form, and the woman said she was unaware of the form.

When Susek told her she could visit the election bureau upstairs to obtain the form, she indicated she did not have time to do that and started to leave. He told her she could still drop off her own ballot, using the words “your ballot.” The woman proceeded to drop all four ballots in the still-unzippered transfer bag and departed.

Susek said he immediately segregated those four ballots, returned them to the election bureau and placed them in a large envelope with a label. The ballots are in a “needs review” bin in the ballot storage room and have not yet been scanned in as received.

A request for the video footage has been submitted, and Thomas was asked to type up his own account of the matter in case it is needed.

County Councilman Gregory Wolovich Jr. brought up the incident during public comment before Wednesday’s county Election Board meeting as he and several council colleagues continue to speak out against the use of drop boxes.

Wolovich said nobody would have known about the woman’s action if Susek had not happened to be there at that time and said it is proof the law is not being followed within the county.

“This is happening. This is dangerous. This is why people don’t trust the system,” Wolovich said.

Later in the meeting, newly appointed Election Board member James F. Mangan Jr. said state law must be followed, and he said he does not want to overlook a situation of someone knowingly or unknowingly violating the law. In this case it appears to be knowingly because Susek informed the woman of the authorization requirement, Mangan said.

Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said the matter won’t be “brushed under the rug” by the board and that the incident is being referred to the county District Attorney’s Office.

This is the second reported incident involving drop boxes. The election board had reviewed drop box surveillance recordings to investigate a complaint about a woman, reportedly from a nursing home, who had deposited or attempted to deposit multiple ballots at Penn Place before the November general election, officials have said. That matter was referred to the county District Attorney’s Office and remains under investigation.

Mangan said he also believes more public education is needed because the voting process has “become more complicated.”

The county issued approximately 22,900 ballots to county voters who requested them for the May 17 primary, Susek told the board Wednesday night. To date, voters have returned 11,200 completed ballots, he said.

Voters can return their ballots by mail or deposit them in one of the county’s five drop boxes inside buildings. Drop box locations and hours are posted under the election bureau 2022 primary election link at luzernecounty.org.

The election bureau started deploying voting machines to polling places Wednesday and is continuing with poll worker training, Susek said.