Luzerne County administration announces two post-election initiatives

Luzerne County’s administration is completing a post-election assessment of strengths and weaknesses and forming an “Election Legislation Task Force,” county Manager Romilda Crocamo announced Thursday.

Crocamo said both initiatives are part of the administration’s commitment to “accountability in all matters, with a particular focus on the integrity and transparency of our electoral processes.”

The county’s law office will prepare the “post-election after action report,” which will comprehensively review and analyze the Nov. 5 general election cycle, evaluate county procedures and provide “actionable recommendations for improvement.”

Her announcement said the report will include:

• A thorough assessment of polling place operations, mail ballot processing and vote tabulation methods.

• Input from election officials, poll workers and community members regarding their experiences and observations during the election.

• A detailed analysis of any challenges or issues that arose during the election, including logistical, technical and security-related concerns.

• An examination of adherence to existing election laws and regulations and adherence to all protocols.

• Identification of successful strategies and practices that contributed to the election’s integrity as well as lessons learned from any difficulties encountered.

• Recommendations for improvement based on review findings.

Crocamo said further updates will be shared as the review progresses, including a format for public input.

Several issues surfaced in this election. The Laflin polling place had to remain open an extra 90 minutes because the judge of elections was not present to open the polling place on time, officials said.

There also were complaints about the pace of processing voter registration and mail ballot applications, although the county said it met all statutory deadlines.

Many were upset information on the status of their mail ballot was not reflected in the online ballot tracker. The election bureau ended up manually entering the data the day before the election.

Approximately 7,000 mail ballots in the 119th Legislative District had to be reissued because incumbent state Rep. Alec Ryncavage’s name was misspelled. The vendor accepted responsibility for that error. There also was an issue with original ballots that were supposed to stay segregated. Election Day mail ballot processing was halted, so the original ballots were extracted and not tallied in the unofficial results.

Task force

County officials have called for state election code updates to address issues encountered in the election, including those surrounding mail ballot drop boxes, deadlines for voter registration and mail ballot applications and on-demand mail ballot voting.

“After overseeing numerous elections, it is clear that meaningful change in our election laws needs to take place. The only place where that can happen is with legislative action,” Crocamo said.

The task force will include county election officials, citizens, former legislators and experts. It would work closely with county council’s Legislative Committee, which was created to recommend or advocate for state action on county-related issues.

Crocamo acknowledged state Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Lehman Township) for her “commendable efforts” supporting counties through the Election Integrity Grant.

“Her proactive approach serves as a model for what true leadership looks like, and we look forward to working together with our legislators to ensure a fair and efficient electoral process for all,” Crocamo said.

Legislative action is the “only way to enact meaningful improvements to our election system,” her announcement said.

”The responsibility cannot solely rest on the counties, the Department of State, and the courts; we elect legislators to fulfill their duties, and we will be actively monitoring the actions these elected officials make,” Crocamo said.

”In this context, we will be grading our elected officials, particularly the incumbents who have had the opportunity to address these issues but have done nothing.”