Luzerne County encourages attendance at poll book demo

Luzerne County’s election bureau is pushing for strong turnout at Thursday’s public demonstration of new electronic poll book options for voter sign-in on Election Day.

In addition to notifying the general public about the demonstration, the election bureau invited county council, election board members, poll workers, candidates and chairs of the county Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian parties, county Election Director Eryn Harvey and Acting Deputy Election Director Emily Cook said Wednesday.

The demonstration is part of the current administration’s efforts to address past complaints that the election bureau wasn’t open enough about potential changes and plans, when possible, Cook said.

Cook has designed an electronic feedback survey for attendees to provide input on which system they liked best and the reasons.

The demonstration will run from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with attendees reminded to enter through the courthouse basement security station on the west side of the building facing the Susquehanna River.

Harvey said the current devices are outdated and cannot be used in the Nov. 7 general election due to battery problems and other issues. Poll books from two companies will be presented at the demonstration: Election Systems & Software and Knowink LLC.

The county purchased the current electronic poll books for $325,000 in 2018 from Election Systems & Software to speed up voter processing and allow poll workers to instantly search and redirect voters who show up at the wrong polling place.

The bureau received notification from some polling places on Election Day that the batteries were dead, even though they had been fully charged when they were packed up for delivery, said Harvey and county Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora.

Cook said the current poll books were once “cutting edge,” but this model already was getting past its prime around the time the county purchased it in 2018.

After the public demonstration, the bureau will review the feedback and seek further information from both vendors so it can brief the five-citizen Election Board on its plan at the board’s next meeting on Aug. 16, said Harvey and Pecora.

Vendors that submitted proposals must be equipped to accommodate the county’s anticipated Nov. 7 general election implementation of the new equipment.

Funding will be available for poll books through the upcoming second annual Pennsylvania Election Integrity Grant, said Harvey and Pecora.

Harvey said there’s precedent because Erie County already used integrity grant funding for poll books.

The county is expected to receive approximately $1 million for the integrity grant covering the 2023 general election and 2024 primary, officials said.

Poll book vendors submitted these prices to the county, records show: $431,290 from Election Systems & Software and $437,300 from Knowink. The county has 186 voting precincts and sought pricing for 220 poll books.

More updates

The election bureau is proceeding with a final decision to use electronic ballot marking devices instead of hand-marked paper ballots at polling places in the November general, Harvey said. Paper ballots were used in the primary as as a different approach, but officials concluded the electronic devices are preferred.

A shipment of 250,000 sheets of paper was delivered Wednesday to the county’s voting warehouse for voters to print out their ballots at polling places for review before they scan the paper into a tabulator to be counted, Cook said. When added to 400,000 sheets ordered at the beginning of this year, the county has more than enough on hand, she said.

Paper supplies remain a topic of interest because the bureau did not order enough paper for the November 2022 general election, causing shortages at some polling places and prompting a countywide extension of voting hours to accommodate impacted voters.

The county addressed lingering humidity and temperature issues at the warehouse in November, which means unused paper can be kept for deployment in subsequent elections, Cook said.

Other election updates:

• At the direction of county Manager Romilda Crocamo, staffers will be visiting high schools to recruit seniors interested in serving as poll workers. Active adult centers also will be another source for poll worker recruitment.

• Also as instructed by Crocamo, the election bureau will prepare a public report summarizing the results of May primary election poll worker feedback the bureau is in the process of seeking. Poll workers have been asked to rate their assessment of training quality, bureau support, supplies and a range of other election matters.

• Planning for general election poll worker training is underway.