2025 IN REVIEW: Election coverage included drama, changes and a high voter turnout

Luzerne County Council unanimously approved a change in 2025 that will impact all county voters at polling places next year — a new voting system.

Instead of the current practice of making selections on computerized touchscreen ballot marking devices, voters will fill out choices on paper ballots and then feed them into Hart InterCivic scanners to be tallied.

New voting equipment was pursued because the five-year maintenance and support contract with voting equipment supplier Dominion Voting Systems is set to expire at the end of 2025, officials had said.

The Hart InterCivic equipment will be leased at $574,000 annually for five years, which includes equipment, software, maintenance, and support services.

The election bureau has estimated it will fully offset the Hart InterCivic lease cost with approximately $600,000 in annual savings using the new system, in part through reduced expenses for equipment transport to polling places and staffing. Ballot design and equipment testing will also be completed in-house, instead of relying on outside contractors, the bureau said.

Election Board

A county Election Board majority unanimously selected Wyoming borough resident Christine Boyle to fill the fifth board chairmanship seat in February.

Five applicants were interviewed. Boyle, a Democrat, has retired following a career in the insurance industry that included various managerial positions.

The county’s home rule charter created a unique structure for this fifth seat by removing County Council from the selection process. Instead, the four council-appointed board members — two Republicans and two Democrats — choose a fifth citizen of any affiliation or no affiliation.

The board chairmanship seat was open because Denise Williams, a Democrat, resigned to run for County Council — a seat she won.

The volunteer board is a high-profile independent body because it oversees election procedures, makes determinations on flagged ballots and write-in votes, and certifies election results.

Board membership will change again in 2026 because Republican Alyssa Fusaro and Democrat Daniel Schramm complete their terms at the end of 2025 and did not seek reappointment.

The terms of the remaining council-appointed members — Republican Rick Morelli and Democrat Albert Schlosser — expire the end of 2027.

Voter turnout

A total of 78,484 county voters cast ballots in the Nov. 4 general election, or 38.25% of the county’s 205,194 registered voters, county Election Director Emily Cook had reported.

That was the highest turnout since 2007 for a “municipal election,” held every other year, which primarily features local municipal, school, and county races, according to county archived results.

There were fewer ballots cast in November 2007 — 66,359 — but the turnout was 38.28% because the total voter registration count was 173,344 at the time.

Final figures from this year’s general election show 29% of the votes were cast through mail ballots, or a total of 22,730, Cook said.

The remaining 55,754 ballots were cast at polling places on Election Day, including 370 paper provisional ballots, she said.

Election problems

Three issues were highlighted in the general election cycle.

The county discovered several hundred test ballots were included in the unofficial election results. County officials said Dominion Voting Systems failed to clear the test ballot selections from a scanner/tabulator during pre-election testing. All selections from the test ballots were voided, officials said.

In another issue that the county blamed on Dominion, the electronic ballot marking devices had a wording error in the Supreme Court retention questions that incorrectly stated Superior Court, although county officials said the yes-no selections made by voters were not impacted. Polling places were directed to post a message about the error and inform voters before they cast their ballots.

The third matter involved a second mail ballot sent to approximately 30 voters. The county election bureau took immediate action to contact the affected voters and ensure only one ballot was accepted from each. County officials said the state voter database did not generate the usual pop-up warning to stop the second ballot issuance, while the state said the problem stemmed from a county error.

Following the election, Cook learned the county was unable to retrieve photographs of voters who submitted mail ballots in the drop box that had been stationed in the lobby of the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The county was awaiting an inspection by representatives of the box supplier, Runbeck Election Services, to conclusively determine if photographs were captured as promised.

Purchased for $12,000, the box was supposed to capture photographs of both the person’s face at the box and each side of the inserted envelope, along with the date and time the images were taken.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo has said she will seek a full refund from Runbeck if the drop box is not providing the promised features, adding the county has no control over the inner workings of the equipment.

Party leaders

In a political note, the chairs of both county political parties changed in 2025.

Gene Ziemba resigned as county Republican Party chair in April, saying he made the decision following a health issue.

Ziemba’s resignation announcement cited “wonderful success” during his time as chair, including a conversion of the county voter registration from a Democratic to Republican majority.

County Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott was vice chair and is now Republican Party chair.

Thomas M. Shubilla resigned as county Democratic Party chair in November following an executive committee no-confidence vote.

Mary Ann Petyak was named the new chair of the Democratic Party at a meeting this month.