Election director: Ballot mailing leads to higher costs

By the first Monday in February each year, Luzerne County’s election bureau must send mail ballot applications to all voters who had checked a box to be placed on a permanent mailing list when they initially applied.

Voters who return these applications will automatically receive mail ballots for all elections that year. The sending of annual applications to permanent mail voters was part of the bipartisan state Act 77 election reform that was approved in 2019 and authorized now-popular mail voting with no excuse or reason required.

County Election Director Shelby Watchilla brought up the annual ballot application mailing requirement during her Tuesday night 2021 budget presentation as one of the reasons she is seeking $8,000 for overtime in 2021.

County Councilman Harry Haas asked her about the budgetary request because it is $5,000 more than this year’s overtime allocation.

Approximately 40,000 county voters had requested placement on the permanent mail ballot list, Watchilla said.

“That is going to take a lot of extra work that wasn’t required in the past,” Watchilla said.

While the county opted to outsource the mailing of ballots for the Nov. 3 general election, Watchilla told Haas her office must still review and process all mail ballots, and the influx has led to more overtime.

The office ended up spending far more than the $3,000 overtime allocation this year, although officials have said much of the expense should be covered by coronavirus assistance funding because mail voting was promoted as an option to avoid polling places during the pandemic. As of Oct. 31, the bureau had spent $20,688 on overtime, the administration’s latest monthly budget report shows.

More than 2 million voters statewide have signed up for the permanent annual mailing, state officials said in October. To be removed from the permanent mail ballot list, voters must submit a “request to cancel my ballot request” form, which is available at www.votespa.com.

Councilwoman Sheila Saidman asked Watchilla why she needs $12,000 for advertising, which is the same amount allocated this year.

The bureau spent less than $3,000 through October, but not all advertising expenses have been processed.

Watchilla said legal advertising costs will increase in 2021 because it is a municipal election, with more local races on the ballot.

The bureau also is exploring other possibilities that would require additional advertising, she said. When Councilman Walter Griffith asked her to elaborate, Watchilla said she cannot at this time because they are still only in the discussion stage.

Overall, the bureau is budgeted at a proposed $835,571 in 2021, which is a reduction of $861 from this year. On the revenue side, Watchilla expects to collect $6,000, or $2,000 more, next year.

In addition to Watchilla, the bureau employs a deputy and four union workers.

In other business during Tuesday’s virtual session, Joe Joyce, a representative of Pittston-based Joyce Insurance Group, the county’s insurance broker, presented quotes from insurance carriers, many rising.

The county’s insurance expenses are set to increase from $2.29 million to $2.75 million in the proposed budget.

Most significant is a doubling of the liability/casualty insurance from approximately $638,000 to $1.3 million.

Joyce told council a $3 million settlement with the estate of deceased county inmate Shaheen Mackey contributed to the rising expense, but he also said government entities across the country are in the same boat due to a rise in litigation over cases involving prisons and police departments.

Haas said a 105% increase is a “tough pill to swallow.”

Council plans to discuss more proposed budget amendments Dec. 8 and vote on the 2021 budget Dec. 15. The proposed budget does not include a real estate tax hike.