Luzerne County Councilman Griffith discusses ballot controversy protest plans

Luzerne County Councilman Walter Griffith said he has two primary reasons for organizing a Wednesday afternoon protest over last week’s revelation that nine oversees military mail-in ballots were prematurely opened and discarded.

The protest will both push for more county Election Board involvement in voting matters and express outrage over the disenfranchisement of military voters, Griffith said Monday.

As previously reported, county Election Board members have said they were unaware of the ballot problem until it was made public by investigators.

The five-member citizen board was created under the county’s home rule charter, which took effect in 2012, to oversee elections.

Since then, election board members and the county administration have periodically disagreed on their respective powers and roles, with interpretations differing based on the charter, state law and council-approved administrative code.

Council appoints four of the board members — two Democrats and two Republicans. Those four board members then select the fifth member, who serves as chair.

Griffith has long argued the election board is not fully exercising its authority over election decisions under state law.

He believes the county administration should have immediately notified the election board after the discarded ballots were discovered. The board could have held an emergency executive session to discuss options, he said.

“The election board is responsible for the election — not (county Manager C. David) Pedri,” Griffith said.

What’s the difference when the matter likely still would have been reported to the county District Attorney’s Office either way? Griffith maintains the election board should be the primary entity taking charge of response because it is independent.

“The charter allowed council to pick those board members because it wanted the body to be nonpolitical and independent of the administration,” Griffith said. “Our charter doesn’t cut the manager out of the process, but it doesn’t cut the board out either.”

Wednesday’s protest is meant to “get the board’s attention” and stress “it is in charge of the election — not the other way around,” Griffith said, noting some election-related litigation has named the board as defendant.

Griffith timed the protest to lead up to the election board’s 4:30 p.m. meeting, which will be held virtually. Directions on attending are posted on the authorities/boards/commission online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.

Keith Gould and Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt serve on the Republican board seats, while the Democratic seats are held by Peter Ouellette and Audrey Serniak. After initial tie votes, the board selected Democrat Jeanette Tait to fill the fifth chairmanship seat in July.

Ouellette said Monday the election board may vote Wednesday on a statement outlining its role and responsibilities that had been drafted with input from the county law office.

Under this proposal, the board’s duties would be focused on adjudicating and certifying election results, observing the vote tally process, performing public outreach on voting, approving the election proclamation and, if desired, making recommendations to the election bureau on voting equipment options.

If the document is adopted, Ouellette said it could be legally challenged if someone believes it does not go far enough.

“I would welcome that suit because that would force a definition of our role,” he said.

Ouellette attributes the “lack of clarity” on state law that hasn’t “caught up with” the unique situations encountered in counties governed by home rule charters. Election board members in Northampton County, which also is home rule, have wrestled with the same uncertainty, he said.

As it stands, the election board does not appear to have control over equipment, staff and supplies because it has no budget,he said. In comparison, county commissioners also served as election board members and had clear power over both funding and staff under the prior government system, he said.

“The law assumes a board of elections has a budget that it controls because it was basically written around the three-commissioner style of government,” Ouellette said.

On the issue of the discarded overseas military ballots, Griffith said the act was “even more egregious” because it has harmed people “fighting for the very freedom we hold dear.”

The protest will be held outside the county’s Penn Place Building at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street in Wilkes-Barre at 3 p.m. That building houses the county election office.