As promised, Luzerne County has received $1.04 million from a new annual state election integrity grant designed to ensure counties across the state have their mail ballots counted by midnight on election night, the administration said.
Some had questioned the administration’s decision to proceed with plans to spend the funds without certainty the money would arrive, expressing concerns the county would be on the hook. The administration has verified the money is now in county coffers.
A council majority voted Monday to authorize using a portion of the funds to purchase a mail ballot sorting machine so it will be ordered and in place for the Nov. 8 general election.
The election bureau requested the machine to speed up election night tallying and reduce staff needed to manually scan at least 18,000 mail ballot outer envelopes to mark them as received.
Based on the envelope weight, the machine also will instantly weed out those missing required inner secrecy envelopes or containing more than the one permissible ballot inside, the administration said.
The $490,500 purchase price included $315,500 for the system and an annual $35,000 licensing and service agreement for five years.
Election Deputy Director Beth McBride said Wednesday she has negotiated a contract that would reduce the cost to $350,500, largely by making the service agreement optional in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The county would decide next year if it wants to keep the agreement for the three remaining years at $35,000 annually, she said.
McBride said she also secured a tentative Sept. 19 date for the machine’s delivery to the county, allowing time for training. The Agilis Mail Ballot Sorting System is from Runbeck Election Systems.
“We’re excited to receive it and for the impact it will have on the bureau and voters of Luzerne County,” McBride said. “This machine will have a direct result on the time our election results are completed.”
County Controller Walter Griffith said Wednesday he is encouraging the election bureau and citizen election board to put the machine under video surveillance when it is in use and ensure bipartisan observation is permitted.
McBride said the machine will be in the election bureau, which has video surveillance. Bipartisan observers and election board members will be present when the machine is used for sorting on Election Day, as they always are for all manual screening and opening of ballots, she said.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.