Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department won’t host drop box

Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dave Pettit said Thursday his fire station won’t be hosting a mail ballot drop box in future Luzerne County elections.

The subject came up during a county Election Board meeting the previous night because the township falls within the senatorial district requiring a special election on Jan. 31.

County Acting Election Director Beth McBride told the board she unsuccessfully attempted to reach the Wright Township department to determine if a box was possible in the special election.

County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she would like to know a reason because the fire department had a drop box in three prior county elections for the convenience of Mountain Top area voters.

Pettit said his department decided in November it will no longer host a drop box due to “space constraints and operational changes.” Another factor was the possibility of a municipal restriction on drop boxes, he said.

Pettit said he will be contacting the county shortly but did not want to respond before he was certain of the department’s decision.

The township Board of Supervisors are considering a resolution declaring that the township “shall have no ballot drop boxes in this current election or any future election, unless compelled to do so by Pennsylvania statute or by legal authority,” according to an online agenda posting.

As it stands, county officials say the county election board decides when and where drop boxes will be used. Questions have been raised about whether a municipality can legally stop a drop box if a site within its border is willing to host a box approved by the election board.

An election board majority voted to have two mailbox-style drop boxes for the Jan. 31 special election in which voters from 18 of the county’s 76 municipalities will help select state Sen. John Gordner’s replacement.

As in past elections, one box will be available inside the county-owned Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The other box will be inside the county-owned Broad Street Exchange Building in downtown Hazleton in the special election and going forward. The county had no southern county drop box in the Nov. 8 general election because one is no longer available at Hazleton City Hall. McBride told the board a security camera meeting all board-approved requirements will be installed inside the exchange building before the drop box is activated for the special election.

Poll books

McBride said Thursday she is in discussion with Election Systems & Software, or ES&S, to determine what can be done to use electronic poll books instead of paper ones for voter sign-in during the special election.

Specifically, she said the company is assessing if it can upgrade software for approximately 30 poll books needed for the special election or whether new ones would be required.

There may be a cost because the company verified the county does not have a hardware maintenance agreement for the poll books, she said. It’s unclear if the county secured an extended warranty, she said.

The county purchased the poll books for $325,000 in 2018, with the promise the equipment would speed up and improve the processing of voters as they enter polling places.

The election bureau had switched from electronic poll books to paper ones in the Nov. 8 general election, saying the electronic ones were reaching their end of life and had created problems for some poll workers wrestling with technical issues.

However, the election board unanimously voted to use the electronic poll books in the special election if ES&S can provide assistance getting the devices ready. Board members said the electronic poll books provide poll workers with instant access to data on voters to determine if they are at the correct polling place and eligible to cast a ballot through tabulators/scanners instead of using a paper provisional ballot.