Outside attorney begins work on completing Luzerne County election procedures

A newly retained outside legal consultant met with Luzerne County staff Monday to start preparing standard election operating procedures, officials said.

The county administration brought in Attorney Timothy E. Gates as a consultant because he has expertise in election law and is equipped to draft protocols that were long requested but never fully completed, county Manager Romilda Crocamo announced earlier this month.

“We have to do it, and we’re relying on someone who is an expert,” Crocamo said Monday.

Crocamo said the engagement with the firm employing Gates — Harisburg-based Myers Brier and Kelly — will be covered by available funding in the election bureau’s contractual services budget. She said she will provide periodic progress reports on the firm’s work and payments.

According to a contract posted on the manager’s online page, the agreement took effect July 19 and has no set termination date or cap.

The firm’s partners and counsel, which includes Gates as counsel, will bill at a reduced rate of $400 per hour, while the hourly fee will be $300 for associates and $150 for legal assistants, it said.

Specifically, the agreement requires the firm to evaluate and make recommendations to the county on improving the programs, procedures and protocols for administering elections in the county under the Pennsylvania Election Code as well as all applicable federal election laws, it said.

Crocamo said Gates already has rounded up and started reviewing documents related to county elections. She plans to meet with Gates later this week and will release more specifics about the plan.

The plans to retain Gates stemmed from her discussions with county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce about his office’s recent investigation report focused on the November 2022 general election paper shortage. Both the DA and Crocamo concluded comprehensive standard procedures are needed, she said.

The DA’s report said the failure to procure sufficient quantities of the correct paper for voting machines last fall was “not a deliberate act, but rather a catastrophic oversight.”

Crocamo said Sanguedolce provided her with the name and curriculum vitae of Gates as a proposed consultant because Gates had served as the Pennsylvania Department of State chief counsel and has a “vast amount of experience in campaign finance law and elections issues.”

The election board had voted in June 2021 to direct the election bureau to document all election processes in writing as part of a package of initiatives aimed at addressing past issues and complaints.

A partially completed working document of procedures was initiated and periodically updated, but the November 2022 paper shortage sparked a renewed discussion that a more comprehensive document was needed to ensure all legal mandates are met.

In the subsequent May primary, for example, the bureau did not include a municipality of residence on the ballot as required for candidates in several races.

Election Board members also highlighted the need for written procedures on poll worker eligibility and recruitment, the stocking and sealing of voting machines before delivery to polling places, steps to complete required post-election audits and mail ballot pre-canvassing and safeguards for bags with polling place materials.