Against objections from Luzerne County Acting Election Director Beth McBride, the county’s five-citizen Election Board unanimously voted Wednesday on a tentative plan to use electronic poll books instead of paper ones for voter sign-in during the Jan. 31 special election.
In another vote, the board’s three Democratic members — Danny Schramm, Audrey Serniak and Chairwoman Denise Williams — agreed to place a ballot drop box inside the county-owned Broad Street Exchange Building in downtown Hazleton in the special election and going forward. The county had no southern county drop box in the Nov. 8 general election because one is no longer available at Hazleton City Hall. Republican board members Alyssa Fusaro and Vice Chairman Jim Mangan voted against the Hazleton drop box Wednesday.
The election bureau had switched from electronic poll books to paper ones in the Nov. 8 general election, saying the electronic ones were reaching their end of life and had created problems for some poll workers wrestling with technical issues.
McBride told the board Wednesday paper poll books must be used Jan. 31 because there is not enough time to purchase new electronic poll books before the special election. The bureau is at the mercy of county council to determine if it wants to allocate an estimated $500,000 for the purchase, she said.
Fusaro said only approximately 30 electronic poll books would be needed for the special election to replace state Sen. John Gordner because only 18 of the county’s 76 municipalities in that senatorial district will be casting ballots.
Fusaro said she reviewed the current electronic poll book contract with Election Systems & Software, or ES&S, and believes it is still in effect with a warranty. She suggested the bureau work with the company to identify a sufficient quantity of operable poll books for the special election and test and program them, saying the use of paper poll books created challenges in the Nov. 8 general.
“To be honest, I don’t trust not using them, especially with all the major issues we had,” Fusaro said, referring to the need to bring back electronic poll books.
Williams fully concurred with Fusaro, saying the board dealt with more Nov. 8 provisional ballots on the back end because poll workers had no access to electronic poll books to instantly look up voters and determine their voting status and whether they were at the correct location. Numerous poll workers complained they were unable to reach the bureau by phone to check on voters, in part due to an influx of calls stemming from the paper shortage, she said.
Paper provisional ballots are processed after the election and must be used when poll workers cannot confirm voters’ eligibility to scan ballots directly into tabulators at polling places. Williams noted provisional ballots may only be partially counted if voters were in the wrong polling place and chose candidates in races that do not fall in their correct location.
McBride said she agrees electronic poll books are ideal but argued there is not enough time to arrange training and on-site support with ES&S.
She said several times the county is risking “widespread issues” if the electronic poll books are used in the special election and said she is working to make more phone lines available for poll workers with questions. While acknowledging the paper shortage prevented many calls from getting through on Nov. 8, she also said the system was overloaded because multiple poll workers within some polling places were calling instead of one representative from each. McBride said paper poll books were pre-ordered, and the vendor is on standby.
The board’s unanimous vote to use the electronic poll books is contingent on ES&S providing assistance in activating the electronic poll books for the special election.
Board members asked McBride to immediately contact ES&S about its service and include board members in the communication.
The county purchased the poll books for $325,000 in 2018, with the promise the equipment would speed up and improve the processing of voters as they enter polling places. Voters signed in with a stylus on a tablet.
During a recent budget presentation, McBride asked council to consider allocating funds for new poll books so they could be bid out next year, although council has not yet acted on that request.
Another option would be continued use of paper poll books with the addition of a secure phone app that allows poll workers to search voting locations for voters at the wrong polling place, McBride said. The app would cost $30,000 to $40,000 annually and also serve as a “command post” for poll workers to report the status of polling place openings and closings, obtain checklists and report issues, she said.
McBride told council she supports the purchase of new electronic poll books for benefits stated in the past, saying they also drastically accelerate completion of the polling place reconciliation process required for certification of results and speed up the crediting of ballots as cast for voters searching in the state’s tracking system.
Drop box
There was no mailbox-style box in Hazleton City Hall as usual for the Nov. 8 general election because city officials wanted to move the box to a part of the building that is not under city video surveillance.
The county’s Broad Street Exchange property was considered at that time, but the details could not be worked out before the general election.
McBride told the board Wednesday a security camera must be installed inside the exchange property so it will be aimed at the drop box and meet all requirements previously adopted by the board. She said she confirmed that work can be completed and tested before the special election.
As in other elections, a drop box will be available inside the county-owned Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre for the special election, officials said.
A vote was only taken on the Hazleton box Wednesday because it was a location change.
McBride said she unsuccessfully attempted to reach the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Dept. in Mountain Top about hosting a box in the special election because the township falls within that senatorial district.
Williams said the fire department had a drop box in three prior county elections and said she would like to know a reason if the department is no longer willing to host one. McBride said she will try to get an answer.