Luzerne County Courthouse
                                 File photo

Luzerne County Election Bureau requesting grant-funded mail ballot sorting system

Luzerne County’s election bureau is seeking council approval to use $490,500 in state Election Integrity Grant funding to purchase a mail ballot sorting system that it says will significantly streamline Election Day operations and speed up reporting of unofficial election results.

Due to supply chain issues, prompt council approval is necessary to ensure the system is operational for the Nov. 8 general election, the bureau said. The request is on Tuesday’s voting agenda.

The bureau was informed it will be receiving $1.04 million from the new election integrity grant, said an agenda submission from Deputy Election Director Beth McBride. Based on the county’s voter registration, the bureau is expected to receive the same amount annually. Funds not spent during each calendar year must be returned to the state.

This grant funding is primarily designed to ensure counties across the state have their mail ballots counted by midnight on election night, it said. Purchase of a sorting system is “paramount” in ensuring the county meets this legal election night tally deadline set by the state legislature in this year’s Act 88, it said.

Integrity grant funds are set to arrive Sept. 1, and McBride said she has been crafting a strategic plan for use of the funds for a “smooth and successful” election on Nov. 8.

“To ensure efficiency on Election Day, a dramatic change is needed within the department through our processes and procedures,” she said.

McBride is recommending purchase of the Agilis Mail Ballot Sorting System from Runbeck Election Solutions, saying it is “paramount” to meet the mail ballot counting deadline.

Runbeck Elections Solutions offers the only machine that meets the bureau’s needs, the agenda said. It will allow the scanning of 18,000 ballots per hour, significantly speeding up work normally performed manually.

The system automatically prints the time and date on envelopes, scans voter bar codes, captures images of the envelopes, gives voters credit for submitting a ballot in the county voter database, generates reports, sorts envelopes by exceptions, and detects ballot thickness to determine if a ballot is missing a required inner secrecy envelope or is overfilled, she said.

Ballots that don’t meet specifications will identified and separated for manual review.

“This machine would allow the bureau to complete this process within hours, which otherwise takes the bureau of elections days to complete,” McBride wrote, describing the system as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

The purchase price includes $315,000 for the system and an annual $35,000 licensing and service agreement for five years.

Without council approval, the county would have to continue relying on county employees to process all mail ballots by hand, delaying the reporting of comprehensive election results, the agenda submission said.

Council approval is required under the county’s home rule charter for contracts requiring a payment of more than $25,000 in any future calendar year for which no budget has been adopted.

Established in 1972, Phoenix, Arizona-based Runbeck Election Services handles election print, mail and technology products and services, it said.

The Agilis was designed to fit in tight spaces, with a base less than 20 feet long and 7 feet wide on wheels, the company said.

Grant funding

State officials allocated $45 million in the budget this year to help counties cover the rising costs of holding elections through the award of integrity grants.

Under this legislation, county election offices receiving funding must reject funding from private outside groups and agree to tally mail ballots without interruption after the polls close at 8 p.m. on election night, according to information released by county officials.

County Manager Randy Robertson has said he welcomes the state funding assistance and assured the administration will be vigilant complying with all grant stipulations.

Councilman Stephen J. Urban had sent Robertson an email questioning whether the administration can proceed without a council resolution authorizing the application.

Robertson replied that his team, based on past protocol, determined grant applications only have to be presented to council if a county match is required or the funding agency — in this case the state — requires a resolution approved by the governing body. Neither applies in this situation, he said.

With the award approved by the state, the administration is asking council to pass an ordinance adding a separate line item in the county budget for the new award, according to the work session following Tuesday’s voting meeting.

Tuesday’s voting meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with Instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.