Once again, the topic of mail ballot drop boxes dominated Monday’s Luzerne County Election Board meeting.
In an emailed public comment, former county councilwoman Elaine Maddon Curry said she chairs the Hazleton Advisory Council of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and the advisory council plans to file a discriminatory complaint with the commission over the lack of a drop box in the Hazleton area.
There won’t be a mailbox-style box in Hazleton City Hall as usual for the Nov. 8 general election because city officials wanted to move the box to a part of the building that is not under city video surveillance.
Maddon Curry said Hazleton should have a drop box because it is the second largest city in the county, has the largest Hispanic population of 63% and a significant elderly population and was the only city in the county to experience population growth in the 2020 census, adding 5,000 residents.
“Hazleton is also the farthest city from the county seat in Wilkes-Barre,” her email comment said.
Maddon Curry argued the county should have made a more concerted effort to find another suitable drop box location in Hazleton when it was determined Hazleton City Hall would not be an option last month.
“The county government has a role not to just listen to all the loud voices, nor to act out of any personal or political bias, but to ensure the county government is fair, equitable and offers the same resources to every citizen of the county,” Maddon Curry wrote.
The advisory council strongly urges the election bureau to start the process of ensuring Hazleton has a drop ballot box for all future elections, she said.
Maddon Curry said before the meeting that anyone can file a complaint with the commission if they believe they are subjected to discriminatory behavior. The commission enforces state laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, commercial property, education and public accommodations.
Election Board members did not publicly discuss the threatened action but already had an update on the Hazleton drop box situation on the meeting agenda.
County Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora told the board the interior entrance area of the county-owned Broad Street Exchange building in downtown Hazleton is covered by security cameras and may meet the board’s drop box location requirements for the 2023 primary election.
Pecora said the camera footage is monitored and maintained by a third party, which would require additional discussion to ensure the county would have access to the recordings.
Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she would prefer a county-owned property to avoid the potential for last-minute withdrawal by a non-county entity. She said the board will check on the status of the election bureau’s review of the site in early 2023.
During public comment, four residents raised various concerns about drop boxes, including their placement in municipalities without the involvement of local elected officials and the potential for someone wearing a mask or face covering to be unrecognizable on the drop box security cameras.
Election Board member Danny Schramm said each mail ballot contains a bar code linked to a specific voter, and only one ballot is issued to each voter. Even if someone made multiple copies of a ballot and managed to replicate the inner and outer envelopes, the forgeries would not be accepted due to the unique bar code tracked in the statewide system, he said.
One man asked why voters can’t mail their ballots.
Two citizens supporting the boxes said voters cannot be sure the U.S. Postal Service will deliver their ballots to the county election bureau by 8 p.m. on election night to be counted. Ballots in drop boxes are retrieved by the county.
Election Board Vice Chairman Jim Mangan said he is not in favor of drop boxes but was appointed after a board majority decided to provide the option to voters. Out of respect for the county resources involved in the boxes, voters supporting the boxes have an obligation to ensure they comply with the law and deposit only their own ballot, he said.
The boxes are located at the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Dept. in Mountain Top, the Pittston Memorial Library in Pittston, Passan Hall at Misericordia University in Dallas and the county-owned Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Information on drop box hours and locations are posted under the election bureau’s 2022 general election link at luzernecounty.org.
In other business Monday, county Acting Election Director Beth McBride said the bureau also will be posting a list of all polling places and an interactive map allowing voters to pinpoint their polling place and legislative districts.
Only two polling places are changing for the general — Harveys Lake, which will return to the borough building, and Hazleton Ward 5, which will be switched to Holy Rosary Church, the board decided. Impacted voters will receive new registration cards with the revised polling places.
McBride also urged interested residents to apply for temporary Election Day worker positions that pay $20 per hour. Under bureau supervision, these workers will assist with various duties on Nov. 8, including mail ballot processing. The shift will run from 6:30 a.m. to midnight, or until all ballots have been counted. There is a possibility of additional work if a recount is required in any races.
Workers also must take an oath and undergo training for approximately two hours on Nov. 7.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalency.
Information is available under the human resources department career opportunities link at luzernecounty.org.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.