Restoration of a fifth mail ballot drop box in Luzerne County’s northern region, like the one shown here at the county’s Penn Place building in Wilkes-Barre, is up for discussion at Wednesday’s county Election Board meeting, the agenda said.
Restoration of a fifth mail ballot drop box in Luzerne County’s northern region is up for discussion at Wednesday’s county Election Board meeting, the agenda said.
The board will discuss and possibly vote on a request to use the lobby of the Frank J. Crossin Towers in Duryea as a replacement site, the agenda said.
In the past, the county had a drop box in nearby Pittston at the city-owned Pittston Memorial Library. City officials informed the board in January 2023 the library can no longer be used due to legal costs related to a Right to Know challenge.
The Duryea property is operated by the county Housing Authority. County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she identified it as a solid option because the county has been successfully placing a drop box at another authority property — the Wright Manor assisted living facility in Mountain Top.
In addition to Wright Manor, the county has drop boxes at Misericordia University in Dallas and two county-owned properties — the Broad Street Exchange in downtown Hazleton and the Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre, which houses the election bureau and other county offices.
“We have ballot drop boxes in the west, east and south parts of the county but lost the northern one, which was the second-highest used drop box,” Williams said. “I felt committed to find a replacement for voters.”
Williams said she won’t give credence to an argument that the county would have to pay approximately $2,800 for an additional mailbox-style box because the one now used at Penn Place had been purchased for the northern county Pittston site. The original Penn Place countertop-style box is still available and can be used at that Wilkes-Barre location if the county does not want to order a new one, she said.
The county administration also has said bringing back a fifth collection site would put more stress on the sheriff’s department because a team of two deputies must regularly retrieve ballots deposited in each box. Williams said the sheriff’s department was able to accommodate this temporary assignment when the Pittston library had a drop box in the past.
Williams said she prefers drop boxes because the ballots dropped inside are transported directly to the bureau, with no chance they will be lost in the mail.
“Also, in the event there’s a problem with mail ballots and they get out late, the drop boxes are such a great back-up like they were in 2021,” Williams said.
Board approval is required for any drop box additions or changes.
Wednesday’s agenda also includes discussion and a possible vote to move the Hazleton drop box from the Broad Street Exchange on Broad Street to Hazleton City Hall on Route 309.
Williams said that move was suggested because the county is leasing part of city hall for a southern county annex. She wants to know if the bureau believes city hall would be a more convenient location for staff and the public.
The county originally had a drop box at Hazleton City Hall, but it was halted before the November 2022 general election because city officials wanted to move the box to a part of the building that is not under city video surveillance. A box for the southern region was subsequently set up at the Broad Street Exchange.
Wednesday’s election board meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for remote attendance are posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
