Luzerne County Election Director Marisa Crispell is contemplating a new ticket system similar to the kind used at deli counters for candidates turning in their nomination petitions, saying her staff needs sufficient time to review them.
The recent court challenge involving former county controller Walter Griffith, now a candidate for the office he once held, brought the issue to the forefront.
“You get 20 people standing at the counter, and it makes the employees feel rushed,” Crispell told the county election board this week. “We do get a lot of impatient people, and it puts a lot of pressure on the staff.”
During a three-week period from Feb. 14 to March 7, Crispell and her employees were tasked with eyeballing thousands of signatures on the petitions of more than 800 candidates who will appear on the May 16 primary ballot.
Many bring in their petitions toward the end of the period because candidates and their representatives can’t start collecting signatures until Feb. 14.
Griffith told the election board the office must do more to document which petition signatures it is accepting and which it is voiding.
The office did not provide a receipt or indicate it had disqualified two signatures on his petition in writing, causing confusion during former county councilman Rick Morelli’s challenge of Griffith’s petition, Griffith said. The court acknowledged the issue and credited Griffith with 251 signatures — or one more than required — instead of a count of 249 that would have removed him from the ballot.
Crispell said she uses a red marker if she’s voiding a signature line and circles and initials any boxes that are a concern.
But Grififth, a Republican from Kingston Township, said some staffers were under the impression they could not write on petitions.
In response, Crispell said she will clarify her protocol with staff and review the possibility of a receipt to ensure both candidates and the people reviewing their petitions are clear on how many signatures were voided by the election office.
A receipt also would address a lack of documentation of which county election inspector reviewed and accepted a petition, Crispell said.
“Right now, I don’t know who accepted anyone’s petition, other than the ones that I accepted,” Crispell said. “There is no accountability.”
The petitions must contain signatures — the number varies depending on the elected post — from registered voters belonging to the candidate’s political party saying they believe that candidate should appear on the ballot.
Each signer must fill out six boxes in this order: signature; printed name; residence house number; street/road name; city/borough/township; and the date of signing.
Crispell said her office must make sure each box is filled in and that signing dates are listed and fall within the petition circulation period.
The office takes the accuracy of the signers’ party registration, addresses and other information at face value because it would be up to a challenger to file court paperwork contesting the accuracy of such information, she said.
“We’re supposed to do an initial examination, and we’re only supposed to strike adamantly defective lines, obvious ones,” said county assistant solicitor Michael Butera, who handles election matters.
Crispell also wants to inquire about the possibility of altering the petition form. Voters frequently write a zip code, which is not required, in the date box because it follows the residential address boxes, Crispell said.
“It happens a lot,” she noted.
The municipality box also creates confusion, said Crispell and Butera.
Butera said many petition signers regularly list their addresses as Back Mountain and Mountain Top, but these are not official municipalities. Others cite neighborhoods, such as Trucksville, Shavertown and Port Griffith.
This problem stems in part from mailing addresses and historic place references that are still in use, said Butera, pointing to the State Correctional Institute at Dallas, which is actually in Jackson Township.
Candidates receive packets stressing the need to make sure petition signers legibly fill out the forms with the proper information, Crispell said.
