Luzerne County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams told the study commission Monday that tension and discord between the board, county council, the manager and law office is a “critical concern” that must be resolved.

The solution must improve cooperation between these entities and prevent interference and abuse of power, Williams told the seven-citizen Government Study Commission tasked with evaluating the county’s home rule structure and possibly recommending changes that would be put before voters for possible adoption.

For background, the charter created a five-citizen election board with four members appointed by council (two Democrats and two Republicans). Those four members then select a fifth member of any affiliation or no affiliation to serve a chair.

As a backdrop, disagreements persist over which aspects of election oversight are controlled by the board and county manager.

Williams, a Democrat unanimously selected to fill the chair seat in April 2021, presented her recommendation Monday on how to address the matter.

For starters, she would add the county manager and two council members (one Democrat, one Republican) to the election board as non-voting members.

Regarding the manager, Williams said the board sometimes makes policy decisions at public meetings with bureau leadership present, only to learn after the meeting that the county manager has concerns or disagrees with the policy.

“I say let’s all sit at the same table and publicly discuss these issues so we’re all aware of what’s going on and things don’t change after meetings are over,” Williams said.

The county manager oversees employees and the council-approved budget under the home rule structure, so cooperation between the board and manager is necessary to carry out board decisions, Williams said. For those arguing the board should control staff and finances for elections, Williams said this is an administration role that could not be effectively handled on a daily basis by five citizen volunteers.

Some council members have argued they should have a say in election board decisions, and adding two non-voting council representatives would ensure they are fully aware of election matters and provide input, Williams said. She emphasized the council representation must be bipartisan, saying she does not believe the public would support two of the same party.

Another aspect of her proposal: require the chair seat to be filled by an Independent/no affiliation voter instead of a Democrat or Republican.

Williams said she makes decisions on the board “through the lens of nonpartisanship” but believes eliminating the possibility of a Democratic or Republican majority on the board is in the best interest of voters.

The fifth chair seat should remain the choice of the four council-appointed board members — not council — through a public search process, Williams added.

Williams said she’s already heard talk from some who can’t wait until she leaves so there can be a push to get a Republican board chair, which she described as the “elephant in the room.”

A chair not part of either party would “take that narrative out” and “be a very important move for trust,” she said.

This change also was recommended by the other speaker Monday — retired political science professor Tom Baldino.

Baldino served on the first election board under home rule, from 2012 through 2015. He and the three other council-appointed members selected Independent H. Jeremy Packard as the first board chair under home rule, which meant there was no Republican or Democratic majority.

Baldino said board votes on major issues were always unanimous, which he attributed to Packard’s ability to “walk the line between the two.”

Williams also believes the election board should have its own solicitor instead of receiving representation through the centralized county law office established by home rule.

Williams, who is in a term that expires April 20, 2025, said she put a lot of thought into her recommendation, noting it is “very difficult living with this tension.”

“I think the public wants to see these issues resolved and everyone working together for elections,” Williams said.

Williams opened her presentation by outlining the issues faced by today’s election board compared to the first board under home rule.

“When the first Board of Elections was in place, it was nowhere near the hyper-partisan and politically divisive climate as the current board’s political environment is,” Williams said. “Elections are now under the microscope nationally, and election boards face many outside pressures and much litigation.”

The state’s addition of mail ballot voting in 2020 “changed the election process profoundly” and dramatically increased the board’s work during post-election adjudication, she said.

Turnover in county administration and election bureau leadership also had an impact.

Williams said she believes the election bureau is “back on good solid ground with experienced leadership at the helm” and written standards of procedures in place.

The election board now has bylaws and written procedures governing public adjudication, she said.

“When I first started on the board, none of this was available or in place,” Williams said.

The study commission’s next meeting is Oct. 17. Commission Chairman Tim McGinley asked members to submit some charter issues they want to address to help with research and planning.

As part of enhanced security measures, Luzerne County is livestreaming a surveillance camera view of the election bureau room that holds Nov. 5 general election ballots.

That means anyone can watch the feed and see any election workers entering and exiting at all hours of the day. For example, county Election Director Emily Cook was observed placing some mail ballots into a storage cage in the room around 1:15 p.m. Monday.

Cook said there are strict security protocols and monitoring governing access to the ballot storage room.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said the livestreaming is intended to increase transparency.

The livestream is accessible on the county election bureau section at luzernecounty.org.

Registration processing

The county election bureau has processed 4,292 voter registration applications over the last week, leaving 2,000 pending applications, according to an election tasks report the county election bureau released Monday evening.

This is a significant improvement from last week’s report, when there were 4,100 pending registrations.

The county administration has assigned employees from other county departments to assist with registration processing.

These figures include voter requests for party or address changes in addition to new registrations.

Cook has emphasized many applications are duplicates from voters submitting new applications even though they already are registered. Duplicates are consuming limited resources, she said. She asks voters to check their registration status at pavoterservices.pa.gov prior to submitting a new application.

Oct. 21 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 5 general election.

Monday’s report is posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org along with information on polling places and other deadlines.

Crocamo issued a statement Monday evening congratulating Cook and the bureau for the “remarkable achievement” processing more than 4,000 registration applications in one week, saying it means registrations “are under control.”

“This significant milestone reflects not only the hard work and commitment of Emily and her team but also the collaborative spirit that exists across various departments,” Crocamo said. “It takes a team effort to ensure that our democracy is upheld and that every eligible voter has the opportunity to participate in our electoral process.”

Voter registration

The county now has 948 more registered Republicans than Democrats, according to the latest weekly state statistics posted Monday.

The county’s total voter registration is now 205,118, which is an increase of 1,475 compared to a week ago.

The registration changes since last week:

• Republicans picked up 897, for a new total 88,621.

• Democrats added 359, bringing the total to 87,673.

• Voters with other affiliations or no affiliations grew by 219, resulting in a new count of 28,824 in that category.

A Monday morning court hearing about Luzerne County mail ballot drop boxes was cancelled as county Manager Romilda Crocamo agreed to provide the boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

The hearing in the county Court of Common Pleas had been scheduled to consider an injunction request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and local law firm Borland and Borland seeking immediate restoration of the four drop boxes.

Filed on behalf of three mail ballot voters and the nonprofit In This Together NEPA, the litigation asserted the county manager must comply with the election board’s directive to provide the boxes for the Nov. 5 general election, as in past elections.

Crocamo has maintained she had authority to cancel the boxes due to safety and staffing concerns because she oversees county workers and property.

Crocamo announced Friday night she reversed course in response to Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle A. Henry’s letter informing her the county election board has sole authority over the deployment of drop boxes under the state’s election code.

“Should you fail to comply with a lawful instruction or order, the Board of Elections could take action, including filing a civil mandamus action to compel performance,” Henry’s letter said. There are also potential criminal consequences for failing to comply, Henry wrote.

Crocamo said Friday evening she “still has grave concerns about the drop boxes” but would comply with the board’s standing resolution requiring the four boxes with video surveillance, as provided in the past.

The plaintiffs subsequently entered into a stipulation agreement with Crocamo, prompting the court to dismiss the case Monday.

According to the stipulation agreement between Crocamo and the plaintiffs, while Crocamo “expressly denies that she is under any legal obligation to deploy ballot drop boxes,” she has agreed to immediately deploy them in accordance with a past election board resolution.

The boxes were in the Wright Manor senior living facility in Mountain Top, Misericordia University’s Passan Hall in Dallas and two county-owned properties — the Broad Street Exchange in Hazleton and Penn Place Building in Wilkes-Barre.

“Nothing in this agreement shall preclude county, municipal or state law enforcement officials from carrying their duties to protect public safety, even if that means access to a drop box is temporarily curtailed,” it said.

Crocamo said the boxes at the two county-owned properties have been deployed with video surveillance, and the county was awaiting determinations from Wright Manor and Misericordia University on whether boxes can be placed at their sites.

Information on the drop boxes and the hours they are available has been posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org.

Responses to the decision

Crocamo’s legal counsel — Attorney Mark E. Cedrone, of Saxton & Stump in Philadelphia — reiterated Crocamo is abiding by the attorney general’s advice.

“As the conscientious, responsible public servant she endeavors to be, Ms. Crocamo has chosen to avoid, at least for now, a sideshow over the respective powers of the county executive and the majority of the volunteer county election board,” Cedrone said.

Crocamo remains concerned about the security, manpower and fiscal issues associated with drop boxes, he added.

“Although her concerns over security derive from multiple credible sources, including the United States Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Crocamo sincerely hopes her concerns remain hypothetical,” Cedrone said. “However, should security issues arise, Ms. Crocamo is committed to assuring the safety of Luzerne County residents as well as the integrity of the voting process and will undertake all steps necessary to assure the protection of the public.”

The county election board is scheduled to vote on two matters related to the drop boxes at its Wednesday night meeting.

Election Board member Rick Morelli, a Republican, proposes eliminating the boxes for the upcoming election due to security concerns Crocamo had presented in a closed-door executive session. Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro, the other Republican on the board, has said she concurs with his recommendation. The board’s three Democratic majority members — Chairwoman Denise Williams and members Albert Schlosser and Daniel Schramm — have said they remain in support of keeping the drop boxes.

In the second related matter before the board Wednesday, Williams is proposing additional security measures that include manning of the drop boxes and the daily removal of ballots. Even if the additional measures are not approved, Williams has stressed she is comfortable with the existing 24/7 video surveillance of boxes and other current protocols that conform with Pennsylvania Department of State guidelines.

Wednesday’s election board meeting is at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with remote attendance instructions posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.

Beth Gilbert, In This Together NEPA’s voting and elections manager, issued a press release Monday morning celebrating the restoration of drop boxes.

“This is a huge victory for Luzerne County voters,” said In This Together NEPA Executive Director Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich. “We applaud the Luzerne County Board of Elections for making drop boxes accessible in Luzerne County since 2020, and we applaud the county manager for reversing course in the best interest of voters throughout the county.”

Hoffman-Mirilovich thanked the ACLU of Pennsylvania and local ACLU cooperating legal counsel Joe and Sarah Borland “for resolving this matter so expeditiously.”

“The speedy resolution will allow voters to begin using drop boxes as soon as ballots are available,” she said.

County Election Director Emily Cook has said voters should start receiving mail ballots by the end of this week. Approximately 33,000 mail ballot requests have been approved to date.

Gilbert’s release said Crocamo’s “abrupt” Sept. 18 announcement weeks before the election “undermined the rights of voters,” “bypassed” the county election board and “raised serious concerns about the overreach of unelected county administrators.”

“Drop boxes have served as a critical resource for those unable to return their ballots through the mail in time for them to be counted,” the release said, describing the drop box restoration as a “big win for seniors, individuals with disabilities, working parents and those in rural areas.”

In This Together had hand-delivered a petition with more than 300 signatures from voters in support of the drop boxes, it said.

“This agreement will also reduce voter confusion,” Gilbert said in the release. “With just weeks to go before election day, voters are making their voting plans and should have the option to do so by using drop boxes just as they have since 2020.”

Jenny Wilczak, a Wright Township voter and plaintiff in the case, said in the release she is preparing for major surgery and unable to vote in person, describing the decision as a “huge relief.”

“I’m grateful that voters like me will still have the option to participate in this election without unnecessary barriers. Drop boxes aren’t a luxury. They’re a lifeline,” Wilczak said in the release.

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo’s proposed no-tax-hike 2025 budget will be introduced Tuesday.

The county millage rate is currently 6.3541. To figure out the tax payment, property owners must divide their assessed value by 1,000 and multiply it by the millage rate. For example, the owner of a $100,000 property pays $635.41 in county taxes.

The Council will be free to make changes before the Dec. 15 budget adoption deadline. Budget adoption is scheduled for the Dec. 10 meeting.

Budget presentations are being added to the upcoming — and regularly scheduled — council meetings, meaning that the Council will not be having additional meetings to review department proposals as in the past.

Tuesday’s meeting is at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for the remote attendance option posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Litigation settlements

Two settlements are on council’s voting agenda.

The first would pay $30,000 to close out litigation William French and Melynda Anne Reese filed against the county in federal court alleging they were denied their constitutional right to vote due to the county’s Nov. 8, 2022 general election paper shortage, the agenda said.

Both plaintiffs alleged they attempted to vote at their polling places multiple times and “were unable to do so due to the paper ballot shortage,” the agenda said.

The second settlement for $15,000 would terminate litigation Melanie J. Randall filed against the county in the county Court of Common Pleas in 2015 over a physical injury sustained when she allegedly fell into an open manhole on the county courthouse property, the agenda said. The suit asserted the injury was caused by county negligence.

County bridge

The Council may vote Tuesday to rescind last month’s decision to earmark $1.2 million in interest earnings on federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace the Sleepy Hollow Bridge in Butler Township.

Crocamo requested reconsideration of the earmark because the county is developing a bridge ranking to prioritize spans that should be addressed, an email to council said. She does not believe the Sleepy Hollow Bridge will be at the top of this list because of its low usage, it said.

The steel truss Sleepy Hollow Bridge has been added to the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan for future funding, but construction must wait until 2027 if alternate funding is not identified.

Election resolution

A proposed county “election worker protection ordinance” presented by Councilwoman Joanna Bryn Smith also is up for an adoption vote Tuesday.

A required public hearing on the proposal is scheduled before the voting meeting, at 5:45 p.m.

All four Democratic council members — Bryn Smith, Patty Krushnowski, Jimmy Sabatino and Brittany Stephenson — had voted to introduce the ordinance so it could advance to discussion and debate, while the remaining seven Republican council members opposed introduction.

Election Board

The county’s five-citizen Election Board will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 9) at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Agenda topics include conflicting proposals to eliminate mail ballot drop boxes or increase security related to the boxes.

A legal challenge is pending over county Manager Romilda Crocamo’s authority to cancel the drop boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

Instructions to attend the meeting remotely are posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Study commission

The county’s Government Study Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Monday (Oct. 7) in the county courthouse.

Authorized by county April 23 primary election voters, the commission has until early 2025 to determine if alterations to the existing home rule charter are warranted and, if so, another nine months to draft proposed changes. An extra two months is allowable if the commission is recommending electing council by district instead of at large.

Voters would have to approve the changes for them to take effect.

Instructions to attend remotely are posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Unless convincing arguments are presented, Luzerne County Council may vote Tuesday to cut federal American Rescue Plan Act earmarks for two prominent projects — a parkade at the former Hotel Sterling site in Wilkes-Barre and recreation enhancements in the area of Nesbitt and Kirby parks, county officials said.

Council Chairman John Lombardo said the proposals to “claw back” the money stem from council concerns about a lack of activity and the possibility the promised projects won’t meet required deadlines.

Lombardo said council and the administration are keeping close tabs on all outstanding projects.

All American Rescue projects must be completed by the end of 2026 in compliance with federal regulations. Council earmarked $55 million to more than 100 outside entities, with some projects already finished and others still underway.

“Council needs to be able to have time to reallocate this money if it is determined these projects will not be successful,” Lombardo said.

He vowed council won’t be stuck returning funds because awarded projects did not materialize as promised.

“We are not risking any of this money. We are not giving any of this money back to the federal government. That’s not happening,” Lombardo said.

Representatives of both projects have been invited to Tuesday’s meeting to “make their case and discuss possible changes that will enable them to finish their projects in time,” he said.

Lombardo said he and his colleagues want concrete information and assurances on what work will be completed.

“If they are serious about their projects and getting something done, they’d better be prepared to answer a lot of questions. They must have specifics of things they can and will get done by 2026, or they won’t get this money,” he said.

Lombardo noted both projects have received a “generous grace period” because the original requirement was for the projects to be completed or in progress last June.

Sterling project

Council had awarded $2 million to the Wilkes-Barre Industrial Development Authority for the public parking garage. The parkade is part of a public/private partnership with the developer of a proposed Gateway Hyatt Place Hotel and Conference Center on the corner of North River and West Market streets.

Because the demand for American Rescue allocations exceeded available funding, county council had capped awards in various categories. As a result, the county’s award was $1 million less than requested for the parkade. In total, the parkade will cost $3.8 million. The city authority and hotel developer have been pursuing grants to cover the remaining gap, officials have said.

The authority had requested a project completion extension from the end of June 2024 to March 31, 2025, which was granted by council.

An extension was needed because the remaining funding required for construction was still in the process of being secured, the authority had said.

The city authority would own the public garage, while the hotel/conference center developer would enter into an agreement to help manage the parkade, project representative Stephen Barrouk has said.

The plans call for 75 ground-level hotel spaces, and the two-story garage would have 150 spaces with the ability to expand upward if needed, he had said.

In addition to a hotel, parking must be added in that city section to accommodate other residential structures and events at the county-owned River Common recreational complex located across the street along the Susquehanna River, Barrouk has said. Several nearby former commercial buildings have been converted for residential use with no parking, and the occupants’ ability to park for free at the Sterling lot will end when the site is developed, he said.

Separate from American Rescue allocation, council had voted in January 2024 to earmark $3 million in community development funds toward H&N Investment’s proposed $37 million, 112-room hotel/conference center.

Tuesday’s council resolution said the $2 million in awarded American Rescue funds for the parkade will be “de-obligated” by the county because the authority is “unable to complete the project as originally presented and approved” due to matching funds not yet secured. It is “not feasible” for the funds to be expended on the project by the end of 2026, the resolution said.

Park enhancements

The project addressing the largely wooded riverfront swath in Kingston and Wilkes-Barre also was awarded $2 million in American Rescue funds.

The Jewish Community Alliance of Northeastern Pennsylvania had agreed to serve as a pass-through entity for the multi-municipal project to be completed, with representatives stressing no funding will go to the alliance.

Council had granted the alliance’s request for an extension from the end of June this year to the end of 2025 due to personnel changes that had slowed the project advancement.

Plans were in the works to complete a master plan and select a contractor to handle initial projects that could be completed within the American Rescue allotment and deadline, project representatives have said.

The west side master plan was focused on the river sides of Nesbitt and Kirby parks in Wilkes-Barre and a proposed new Riverbend Park in Kingston stretching from the Veterans Memorial (Pierce Street) Bridge to south of the Cross Valley Expressway, according to prior reports.

A fresh master plan was warranted because the previous ones were completed in 1995 for Kirby/Nesbitt and 1998 for the Riverbend Park. An updated plan also should help in obtaining future state funding to complete additional phases, project representatives have said.

Some of the work envisioned in the original master plans also may not be advisable due to concerns about damage from flooding or ice jams.

The project aims to restore long-intended access to publicly-owned wooded areas, including a riverfront section cut off from the rest of Kirby Park when the levee bisected the park in 1936.

Past county officials had expressed interest in tackling improvements at Kirby and Nesbitt parks and the proposed Riverbend Park once the east side River Common enhancement project was completed, but the plan fell off the radar as administrations changed and funding for discretionary projects dried up.

As with the Sterling parkade resolution, the one for this project on Tuesday’s council agenda said the funds will be de-obligated because the work originally presented and approved cannot be completed for the funds to be spent by the end of 2026.

Tuesday’s meeting is at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for the remote attendance option posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

KINGSTON — It took Dallas until Week 7 to break .500. As far as Mountaineers coach Rich Mannello figures, they are getting hot at just the right time.

Dallas rampaged Wyoming Valley West for a 35-6 victory Friday night. It marked the Mountaineers’ fourth straight win after an oh-fer start through the opening three games.

“It is survive and advance,” Mannello said. “Can you get to Week 8 and be in the conversation? Now, who is healthy? If you had a bad week or 10 days of practice in the first month, it’s going to catch you now. You’re not making that up.

“That’s why we’re hoping to continue to climb in this way. We’re only as good as last practice.”

Dallas used a little bit of luck to get started against the winless Spartans. A botched punt snap sailed 25 yards, and the Mountaineers’ Nate Malarkey was able to walk it the fumble return 2 yards for the first score of the game.

From there, the Dallas defense kept the Wyoming Valley West offense largely in check. The Spartans were kept to 30 yards of total offense and turned the ball over three times.

“When you look at the size of the kids, they have good speed,” Mannello said. “It just takes time. We’ve been down this round. It doesn’t happen overnight. Their kids played down to the very end. So a lot of respect for that staff and what they’re doing here.”

Less than four minutes later, Dallas doubled its lead to 14-0. Gavin Lewis caught the first Brady Zapoticky pass of the game and sprinted 50 yards for a touchdown. Returning from an injury suffered in the Mountaineers’ opening week loss to Jersey Shore, Lewis finished with three catches for 86 yards.

“He’s finally healthy after week one — it’s testament to him,” Mannello said. “Against Jersey Shore, he changed the game with the last touchdown. He got hurt pretty good. He was out for a while. He fought his way back, and now he’s back to himself again. He’s flying around. He’s a game-changer.”

Dylan Geskey finished with a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Mountaineers. He rushed for a game-high 69 yards on 15 carries.

With the Dallas rushing attack keeping Wyoming Valley West from gaining any momentum, its secondary was pivotal to limiting the Spartans offense. Both Sam Kelley and Lewis made acrobatic catches for interceptions.

“We knew it was going to be a grind in the first month, and the kids had to overcome an awful lot,” Mannello said. “We’re just starting now this past week to roll guys and eyeball other guys, just being able to roll guys in practice.”

Wyoming Valley West averted the shutout with a fourth quarter touchdown. Gadgidas Reisinger intercepted a sideline pass and ran 54 yards into the red zone. Tyler Mattis caught a 2-yard slant from Damien Eastman for the Spartans’ lone touchdown.

Dallas 35, Wyoming Valley West 6

Dallas`21`14`0`0 — 35

Wyoming Valley West`0`0`0`6 — 6

First quarter

DAL — Nate Malarkey 2 fumble return (Rowan Laubach kick), 9:40

DAL — Gavin Lewis 50 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 6:10

DAL — Dylan Geskey 4 run (Laubach kick), :04

Second quarter

DAL — Zapoticky 1 run (Laubach kick), 6:15

DAL — D.Geskey 3 run (Laubach kick), 1:44

Fourth quarter

WVW — Tyler Mattis 2 pass from Damien Eastman (kick failed), 4:11

Team statistics`DAL`WVW

First downs`15`2

Rushes-yards`37-198`19-(-9)

Passing yards`89`39

Total yards`287`30

Passing`4-12-1`8-13-2

Sacked-yards lost`2-19`3-26

Punts-avg.`0-0`5-29.4

Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1

Penalties-yards`1-0`4-16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — DAL, DGeskey 15-69, Zapoticky 12-67, Malarkey 3-2, Logan Geskey 3-11, Hunter Pitcavage 4-10, Travor Slavinski 7-16, Jim Youngblood 1-2, Talan Geskey 4-13, TEAM 1-(minus-2). WVW, Paul Riggs 6-25, Carter Isbel 2-6, Mattis 3-8. Carson Brown 5-(minus-29), Chase Meyers 2-6, TEAM 1-(minus-25)

PASSING — DAL, Zapoticky 4-10-89-0, Brady McCann 0-1-0-0, Youngblood 0-1-0-1. WVW, Brown 6-7-27-1, Eastman 2-6-20-1

RECEIVING — DAL, Lewis 3-83, Tyce Mason 1-6. WVW, Mattis 2-7, Paul Riggs 1-2, Leland Alexander 1-3, Chase Meyers 1-18, Tyler Ruddy 2-9

INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, GLewis 1-0, Sam Kelley 1-0; WVW, Gadgidas Reisinger 1-54

MISSED FGs — None.

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo informed county council Friday evening she will provide mail ballot drop boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

Crocamo said she made the decision in response to Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle A. Henry’s letter this week informing her the county election board has sole authority over the deployment of drop boxes under the state election code.

“Should you fail to comply with a lawful instruction or order, the Board of Elections could take action, including filing a civil mandamus action to compel performance,” Henry’s letter said.

There are also potential criminal consequences for failing to comply, Henry wrote.

Crocamo said Friday evening she “still has grave concerns about the drop boxes” but will comply with the board’s standing resolution requiring the four boxes with video camera recording as provided in the past.

The boxes were in the Wright Manor senior living facility in Mountain Top, Misericordia University’s Passan Hall in Dallas and two county-owned properties — the Broad Street Exchange in Hazleton and Penn Place Building in Wilkes-Barre.

It’s unclear if the Wright Manor box will be possible. County Chief Solicitor Harry W. Skene informed the election board Friday evening that the county information technology department reached out to Wright Manor to make technology arrangements and was informed the facility won’t be hosting a box as it did in the past. Skene said he was in the process of seeking official confirmation from the site owner, the county Housing Authority.

Skene said the county is no longer requiring the Wright Manor and Misericordia sites to sign “hold harmless” agreements accepting liability.

Crocamo’s decision could have an impact on pending litigation because it was filed attempting to force her to comply with the board’s directive to provide the boxes.

Legal challenge

In the pending litigation, Crocamo and the county Election Board filed legal briefs presenting opposing views Friday.

The briefs were required in advance of Monday’s hearing in the county Court of Common Pleas to consider an injunction request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and local law firm Borland and Borland, which seeks immediate restoration of the four drop boxes.

Filed on behalf of three mail ballot voters and the nonprofit In This Together NEPA, the litigation asserts the county manager must comply with the election board’s directive to provide the boxes for the Nov. 5 general election, as in past elections.

Crocamo maintains she has authority to cancel the boxes due to safety and staffing concerns because she oversees county workers and property.

Election Board

A synopsis of the board’s Friday filing by Joseph M. Cosgrove, of Selingo Guagliardo LLC in Kingston:

It said county election boards are statutorily empowered with jurisdiction over the conduct of elections through state Election Code provisions.

The five-citizen election board here is “no less vested” with jurisdiction just because it was created through this county’s home rule charter, it said. Whether formed through standard or home rule structures, state legislators mandate boards contain bipartisan members and comply with open public meeting regulations, it said.

“The conduct of the manager presently is inconsistent with this statutory structure, and subverts the mechanism of accountability which the election code requires,” it said.

The county manager is “one person,” and her decision did not involve the same public discussion and voting of multiple and politically diverse members that occurs with the election board, it said. (The board currently has three Democrats and two Republicans.)

“The election code, by its nature and structure, prohibits such one-person rule with regard to the conduct of elections,” it said.

“The menace such a mechanism would create is self-evident. Sole decision-making power over the conduct of elections, which the manager has assumed, while perhaps based on sincerity, is devoid of the accountability the election code requires. For this reason alone, the manager’s drop box decision is a nullity.”

The filing cited ongoing concern about regular mail delivery delays and said a ballot is cast once it is deposited in a drop box because it is taken directly to the bureau.

“Neither the charter, nor the election code, nor the Pennsylvania Constitution provide any basis for the manager’s decision to forego the lawful decision of the board to employ drop boxes for the upcoming general election,” it said.

A board majority “exercised its wisdom,” over the dissent of some board members, to continue using drop boxes, it said, calling for reversal of the manager’s decision and affirmation of the board’s authority over the conduct of elections.

County manager

A summary of Crocamo’s response, filed by Mark E. Cedrone and Stephen J. Fleury Jr., of Saxton & Stump in Philadelphia:

It said Crocamo dispatched her duties at all times to protect county residents, the general public and county employees consistent with the county’s home rule charter and state election code.

She acted within her authority as county manager based upon legitimate and corroborated safety concerns and is bound by the charter, which cites a principal purpose of providing “for the health, safety and well being” of citizens.

The charter makes it clear the manager supervises and directs the administration, operation and internal organization of all bodies not specifically placed under the jurisdiction of any elective county official, the judiciary or office of court administration by the charter or applicable law.

Crocamo is vested with the executive power and day-to-day decision-making authority for the county and must plan, direct and control county employees, it said.

“Put another way, if Ms. Crocamo is unable to make the determination that an action of Luzerne County’s executive branch is unsafe to the public and/or to Luzerne County employees, then nobody can.”

Granting the motion would “strip” Crocamo of her charter-authorized executive authority, require her to ignore her mandates to supervise and direct employees and provide for the county’s safety and to “disregard multiple credible and corroborated public safety concerns and the absence of resources to address them,” it said.

Plaintiffs are not addressing “the straightforward reality” that the county election board does not have funding, manpower or capacity to implement its drop boxes.

While the board relies upon the executive branch headed by the manager to execute its decisions, it “does not have the authority to direct unreasonable and unaffordable action,” it said.

Suggestions have been made to use a portion of the county’s state Election Integrity Grant to fund drop-box related security enhancements, but those funds already have been earmarked for administering other aspects of the upcoming election, it said, noting the use of drop boxes is not mandatory for Pennsylvania counties.

The safety and security concerns were brought to Crocamo’s attention from various federal and state intelligence authorities, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Intelligence and Affairs, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, it said, citing confidential exhibits included with the filing.

There are six essential conditions that must be demonstrated to obtain a preliminary injunction, and the filing argues plaintiffs have failed to establish five of the six.

Regarding the disabled, it said they may choose a designated agent to handle their ballot for them.

In a related matter, the court rejected Crocamo’s motion seeking to postpone Monday’s court hearing until after the election board’s Wednesday night meeting. Her filing argued a drop box cancellation vote requested by Election Board member Rick Morelli, a Republican, could render the court filing moot.

The board’s three Democratic majority members have said they remain in support of keeping the drop boxes.

Luzerne County Election Director Emily Cook said Friday she is “excited to announce” printing of Nov. 5 general election mail ballots is now underway, and voters should expect to receive their ballots by the end of next week.

Approximately 32,500 requests for mail ballot voters have been approved to date.

The county administration promised to get ballots in voters’ hands before the state’s Oct. 22 issuance deadline so they have time to complete and return them through regular mail. Mail ballots must be physically in the election bureau by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, and postmarks do not count.

Details about drop boxes are still under discussion due to pending litigation.

As it stands, voters will have the option to bring their completed mail ballots to the election bureau on the second floor of the county’s Penn Place Building, which is located at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre.

Mail voters receive instructions, a ballot, a yellow secrecy envelope and a white outer return envelope that contains the voter’s name and a label with a bar code that, when scanned, identifies that voter in the state’s database. The yellow secrecy envelope says “official election ballot.”

After filling out their ballot, voters must place it in the yellow envelope, seal it and then put that envelope inside the one with the label/bar code to be returned to the county.

Voters must sign and date the outer envelope where indicated. The date refers to when the ballot was filled out, not a birth date.

Instructions must be precisely followed to ensure the ballot is counted, officials say.

Voters will be able to check the status of their mail ballot through the online tracker at pavoterservices.pa.gov.

Voters with questions about mail ballots, or any election matter, can contact the bureau at 570-825-1715 or by emailing elections@luzernecounty.org.

On-demand voting

Voters will have the option to apply for mail ballots at the election bureau from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays until Oct. 29, except for Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 14.

With this on-demand option, registered voters can request and, if approved, receive a mail ballot on the spot so it can be completed and submitted in the election bureau.

As in the past presidential general election, the bureau plans to set up a screening area in the lobby of the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to reduce the wait inside the election bureau on the second floor of the building.

On-demand ballots take time because each application must be checked and approved while the voter waits.

Luzerne County may have four mail ballot drop boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

Pennsylvania State Attorney General Michelle A. Henry issued a letter to county Manager Romilda Crocamo on Thursday informing her the county election board has sole authority over the deployment of drop boxes under the state election code.

“Should you fail to comply with a lawful instruction or order, the Board of Elections could take action, including filing a civil mandamus action to compel performance,” the letter said.

There are also potential criminal consequences for failing to comply, Henry wrote.

“Accordingly, we encourage you to continue to work with the Luzerne County Board of Elections to resolve the matter in accordance with the law,” said the letter, which was released by county Democratic Party Chairman Thomas Shubilla.

State Sen. Marty Flynn (D-Scranton) and Crocamo both sent letters last week asking state Attorney General Michelle A. Henry to investigate, with Flynn questioning the legality of the decision.

Crocamo has maintained she has authority over the matter under the county’s home rule charter because she is required to oversee personnel and security of county-owned property. She has said she discontinued the boxes primarily due to a fear they would be targeted, injuring people, property and the ballots inside.

Due to pending litigation, Crocamo referred comment to Attorney Mark Cedrone, of Saxton and Stump, who was retained by the county law office to represent her in a legal challenge the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania initiated over the drop box decision this week.

The ACLU is seeking reversal of Crocamo’s drop box cancellation in the county Court of Common Pleas on behalf of three mail ballot voters and the nonprofit In This Together NEPA.

A hearing is scheduled Monday before a panel of three county judges.

The county law office retained Attorney Joseph M. Cosgrove to represent the county’s five-citizen Election Board, which also is a defendant in the legal action because it is an “indispensable party to this action.”

Cedrone said Crocamo will “cooperate with any lawful order” and emphasized that she sought the Attorney General’s Office review for guidance.

“She’s not going to disregard reasonable directives from the election board,” Cedrone said. “She has legitimate concerns about these drop boxes and has expressed those concerns and is looking at a way to balance those concerns with any authority of the board. We’re hoping that we can resolve this in a way that can avoid this contest and at some point move on.”

Cedrone said analysis must consider whether there is any check and balance over the ability of five volunteer citizens — in this case a majority of three — to have “unfettered control over the election mechanics and economics.”

“That seems a little bit bizarre,” he said.

He presented an imaginary scenario, questioning whether the manager would be lawfully forced to comply if a board majority decided to implement a drop box “on every street corner” manned by a county-funded security guard.

“Would that be a lawful order?” Cedrone asked. “I believe there has to be some reasonable overlay to the dispatch or exercise of this authority that this board appears to have. What’s the checkpoint for that?”

Cedrone added Crocamo must consider security and staffing and the impact on county finances. He takes issue with arguments from drop box supporters that she is trying to disenfranchise voters.

“Romilda Crocamo is going to be a responsible county manager and do what she is obliged to do under the law and circumstances, keeping in mind she has to balance and consider fiscal and security issues and make sure the election proceeds smoothly,” he said. “This is about safety, economics and viability. This is a real quandary with a lot of competing considerations.”

Election board

Luzerne County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams is seeking a board vote next week on enhanced security measures that would be implemented if the board’s directive stands to provide four mail ballot drop boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

Meanwhile, Election Board member Rick Morelli has called for a vote to eliminate the drop boxes, saying a fresh decision is warranted in light of security concerns Crocamo presented in executive session. Morelli said board members must be “held accountable” if they support the boxes and “something happens.”

In February, the election board voted 3-2 along party lines to reject a motion to eliminate all four drop boxes.

Republican board members Alyssa Fusaro and Morelli supported getting rid of the boxes, while the three Democrats wanted to keep them — Williams, Albert Schlosser and Daniel Schramm.

Williams, Schramm and Schlosser all said Crocamo’s security briefing did not change their belief that the four boxes should be provided to voters as they were in prior elections. Fusaro said she agrees with Morelli that Crocamo’s concerns have credence warranting cancellation of the boxes.

The board is meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The boxes were in the Wright Manor senior living facility in Mountain Top, Misericordia University’s Passan Hall in Dallas and two county-owned properties — the Broad Street Exchange in Hazleton and Penn Place Building in Wilkes-Barre.

Hoping that the board’s directive to provide four drop boxes will prevail, Williams said Thursday she is proposing recommending the county administration provide the following security measures in addition to 24/7 video surveillance recording of the boxes already provided:

• Placement of two trained and sworn-in county sheriffs, constables or “contracted licensed/certified security guards” at all four drop box sites for the Nov. 5 general election and all elections going forward, funded by the county’s State Election Integrity Grant.

• Reducing the drop-off hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at three of the four sites — Wright Manor, Misericordia and the Broad Street Exchange — in response to the added staffing. In past elections, these boxes were open weekday evenings and on weekends at Misericordia and Wright Manor.

The box in the main lobby at Penn Place, which houses the election bureau, was open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Election Day, which is the deadline for mail ballots to be physically in the election bureau.

• Removing all mail ballots from all drop boxes at the end of each day following chain-of-custody procedures currently in place and immediately returning them to the election bureau. Previously, ballots were not removed from boxes every day.

• Providing and requiring use of personal protective equipment — such as gloves, eye shields and masks — to personnel transferring mail ballots in and out of ballot transfer bags.

• Locking ballot boxes at the end of each day.

Even if these added measures don’t pass, Williams said she is comfortable with existing protocols, which conform with Pennsylvania Department of State guidelines.

Williams said Thursday that 17% to 24% of mail ballot voters have used drop boxes since statistics were kept starting with the 2021 general election.

“That’s a significant number of mail ballot voters,” Williams said Thursday. “Let’s talk about what we can do to ease everybody’s concerns.”

A Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas hearing is scheduled Monday on litigation attempting to force county Manager Romilda Crocamo to provide four mail ballot drop boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

Meanwhile, the county’s three Democratic Election Board members reaffirmed their support for the drop boxes Wednesday as the board’s two minority Republican members called for a new vote on the matter in light of security concerns raised by the manager.

Regarding the court hearing, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania initiated the action on behalf of three mail ballot voters and the nonprofit In This Together NEPA over Crocamo’s drop box cancellation.

The emergency complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief argues Crocamo unilaterally superseded and negated the election board’s legal authority and decision to deploy four drop boxes. The state election code “confers on the board the authority and responsibility for running elections and election administration,” it said.

Crocamo said she cannot comment on pending litigation but has maintained she has authority over the matter under the county’s home rule charter because she is required to oversee personnel and security of county-owned property. She has said she discontinued the boxes primarily due to a fear they would be targeted, injuring people, property and the ballots inside.

Legal briefs are due by 4 p.m. Friday.

A panel of three county judges will preside over the matter: Lesa S. Gelb, Richard M. Hughes and Fred A. Pierantoni.

ACLU Attorneys Witold Walczak and Marian K. Schneider filed the litigation in conjunction with pro bono representation from Sarah L. Borland and Joseph C. Borland, of local firm Borland and Borland.

The defendants are Crocamo, in her official capacity as county manager, and the county Election Board, which must be named an “indispensable party to this action.”

The county law office is in the process of engaging outside legal counsel for Crocamo and the election board. Separate legal counsel will be necessary because the two county defendants have different positions.

Monday’s court hearing is at 10 a.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Election board

In February, the election board voted 3-2 along party lines to reject a motion to eliminate all four drop boxes.

Republican board members Alyssa Fusaro and Rick Morelli supported getting rid of the boxes, while the three Democrats wanted to keep them — Denise Williams, Albert Schlosser and Daniel Schramm.

The board’s next meeting is Wednesday night, and Morelli asked Williams, the board chair, to include a drop box vote on the agenda.

Morelli said a fresh vote is warranted based on Crocamo’s recent executive session briefing outlining security concerns that informed her decision to cancel the drop boxes.

“Another vote is necessary to hold the board members accountable. If the drop boxes are deployed and something happens, everyone on this board needs to be held accountable,” Morelli said.

A board majority vote to discontinue the boxes for the upcoming election would render the pending legal action moot, but Morelli insisted his request stems from a security concern and not the litigation.

He said a law enforcement intelligence alert and other information presented to the board convince him “without question” that there is a valid security concern. Morelli added he does not care if some other counties are still choosing to provide drop boxes because “other counties are not my responsibility.”

Fusaro, the board’s vice chair, said she shares Morelli’s concerns.

“I think ultimately the board should agree with the county manager in working to make this election as safe and transparent as possible. I feel that it is our duty to create safe voting practices for Luzerne County,” Fusaro said.

But Williams, Schramm and Schlosser said Crocamo’s briefing did not change their belief that the four boxes should be provided to voters as they were in prior elections.

Williams said she will place a vote on next week’s board agenda but does not believe it is necessary because the three members who voted to keep the boxes in February have not altered their stance or expressed any desire to do so.

Schramm said he does not believe drop boxes should be halted this close to an election and said some voters don’t trust their ballots will get to the election bureau in time through regular mail.

He believes existing video recording of the drop boxes is sufficient and does not believe anyone will risk the criminal ramifications of attempting to destroy the boxes and ballots.

In the event something occurs, he believes impacted voters would come forward and request new ballots, saying the checks and balances in place would prevent the acceptance of more than one vote.

Schlosser said the drop boxes provide another option for voters, including the elderly and disabled veterans. He said he is tired of continued assertions that “there’s all this fraud” involved in county drop boxes when he has received no evidence or arrests.

Schlosser said he would be the first one sounding the alarm if warranted because he was a victim of election fraud in 1978 when he ran for state representative.

His reporting of absentee ballot and election fraud back then led to an official federal investigation and charges against numerous individuals, according to past published reports.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Luzerne County voters and In This Together NEPA over the county manager’s decision to remove all four mail ballot drop boxes for the 2024 general election, according to a press release Tuesday.

“Drop boxes are a safe, secure, and easy way to ensure mail ballots are returned timely, and they are especially important for people with disabilities and those experiencing last-minute difficulties going to the polls on Election Day,” ACLU of Pennsylvania’s Legal Director Witold Walczak said in the release.

“The county manager had no legal authority to pull this end run around the board of elections’ decision to continue offering Luzerne County voters a safe and easy option to vote by mail, and we hope the court will quickly restore the four drop boxes,” Walczak added.

The Borland & Borland law firm is local cooperating counsel for the ACLU of Pennsylvania and will be presenting a motion for injunction to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, the release said.

Beth Gilbert, voting and elections manager at In This Together NEPA, said her organization is “committed to ensuring the rights of all voters are upheld.”

“We strongly believe that the decision to eliminate drop boxes is both harmful and unlawful, and we are asking the court to act swiftly to restore access to this vital voting option,” Gilbert said in the release.

The county plans to issue ballots within a week to mail ballot voters who requested them.

Crocamo said Tuesday she cannot comment because she “doesn’t litigate in public.”

She has said she has authority over the matter under the county’s home rule charter because she is required to oversee personnel and security of county-owned property.

Information about the filing is posted at aclupa.org.

Litigation specifics

The lawsuit asks the county Court of Common Pleas to issue an injunction and restore the drop boxes as soon as possible.

ACLU Attorneys Walczak and Marian K. Schneider filed the litigation in conjunction with pro bono representation from Sarah L. Borland and Joseph C. Borland, of local firm Borland and Borland.

In addition to In This Together NEPA, the plaintiffs are mail ballot voters Jenny L. Wilczak, Hannah Butterwick and Carole Shearer. All three women expressed support for drop boxes during a recent In This Together NEPA press conference outside the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.

The nonprofit In This Together is an affiliate organization of Action Together NEPA, which has supported Democratic candidates for county offices. In This Together’s election-related functions strive to “assist all eligible voters with obstacles they may encounter to voting and having their ballots counted,” the court filing said.

The defendants are Crocamo, in her official capacity as county manager, and the county Election Board, which must be named an “indispensable party to this action.”

The emergency complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief says Crocamo unilaterally superseded and negated the election board’s official action to deploy four drop boxes.

“Because issuance of mail ballots is imminent, prompt injunctive relief is necessary to restore the board’s authority over the management of Luzerne County’s elections and to reinstate their decision to deploy four drop boxes for voters to deliver mail ballots during the upcoming election period,” it said.

According to the emergency complaint:

The state election code “confers on the board the authority and responsibility for running elections and election administration.”

During public meetings starting in May 2020, the board approved the deployment of all four drop boxes that have been in use for multiple elections.

Most recently, in February 2024, the board voted 3-2 to reject a motion to eliminate all drop boxes. The board’s two Republican members sought the elimination, while the three Democratic board members opposed it.

“Drop boxes provide voters a secure way to submit their ballot directly into the hands of the election bureau and allow voters to bypass the uncertainty that accompanies reliance on the U.S. Postal Service,” the filing said.

It said there have been no substantiated cases of abuse or fraud concerning the drop boxes.

Crocamo did not formally bring the matter of cancelling the drop boxes to the board, and the board has not taken any public action to change the deployment of four drop boxes.

It also noted Crocamo has not responded to the ACLU’s Sept. 24 letter asking her to retract her order to remove the drop boxes.

The filing asks the court to void Crocamo’s drop box elimination decision, declare that her decision violates the state Election Code and direct her to take all necessary steps to deploy the four drop boxes.

Removal arguments

In her original announcement, Crocamo had said she “must prioritize the safety and security of our community in the current political climate.”

The boxes were in the Wright Manor senior living facility in Mountain Top, Misericordia University’s Passan Hall in Dallas and two county-owned properties — the Broad Street Exchange in Hazleton and Penn Place Building in Wilkes-Barre.

She had said the Wright Manor box is in a vestibule with an outer door that remains open 24 hours a day and cited other concerns about security issues at the three other sites.

Mail ballot voters will have the option to bring their ballots directly to the election bureau on the second floor of the Penn Place Building on the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, she had said.

After attorneys representing the Democratic National Committee, Pennsylvania Democratic Party and other related entities sent a letter challenging her authority last week, Crocamo was more blunt in her reasoning, saying she discontinued the boxes primarily due to a fear they would be targeted, injuring people, property and the ballots inside.

“I’m worried about violent acts to voters using the drop boxes and to the potential damage to the ballots that are inside the boxes,” Crocamo had said.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis brief issued in early September warned that some social media users are promoting destruction of ballot drop boxes.

County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams has said she still believes other solutions could be implemented to address the manager’s concerns, such as stationing personnel nearby funded through the county’s state Election Integrity Grant.

Boulders are being placed around Luzerne County’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to “fortify security” for the upcoming Nov. 5 general election and future elections, county Manager Romilda Crocamo announced Tuesday morning.

The county’s election bureau is housed on the second floor of the building at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street.

The boulders are intended to block unauthorized vehicles from entering the street-level parking lot and ground-level lobby area.

Crocamo said the boulders were among the measures recommended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security following an inspection she requested to identify potential risks and concerns.

“This is a measure taken to safeguard staff, the public and the ballots,” Crocamo said.

Other measures are in the works that may or may not be publicly visible and disclosed, she said.

Crocamo said the $1,760 expenditure, which includes both the boulders and installation by Black Creek Excavation, likely will be funded with a portion of the county’s state Election Integrity Grant.

The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency conducted the “security assessment at first entry” on Aug. 28. This inspection evaluated the current security structure and identified options to “mitigate against relevant threats,” Crocamo said.

Although Penn Place had some obstructions to block high-speed vehicles from getting into the site, the agency concluded safety would improve with the placement of barriers to “prevent vehicle ramming” and improve “stand-distance,” Crocamo said.

Crocamo had identified some of the other enhanced security measures last week:

• Real-time monitoring of video surveillance cameras in areas where ballots are stored and locked.

• Panic button software and radios provided to poll workers from county emergency services to “ensure swift communication in case of emergencies.”

• Color-coded vests and/or lanyards supplied to approved Election Day observers at Penn Place to promote transparency and safety.

In addition, the service window in the election bureau is being reconfigured for staff safety, officials said.

Various county departments and law enforcement agencies will be meeting to enhance communications, solidify contingency plans and coordinate protections on Election Day and the weeks preceding it, she said.

Luzerne County must spend another $1.56 million in opioid litigation settlement funds by the end of this year, and outside entities will have an opportunity to submit proposals for funding consideration, officials said during a Monday night public hearing.

The hearing was held by the county’s Commission on Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement, which was created to make recommendations to county council on how to spend the funds. The latest figures indicate the county should receive approximately $23 million over 18 years from the state’s settlement against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors.

According to Monday’s presentation, the commission is setting up a dedicated section at luzernecounty.org that will contain links to relevant resources, including eligible uses for the funding and an application. An email to reach the commission has also been created for those with questions or suggestions: LuzerneCountyOMAAC@luzernecounty.org.

The county’s first $1 million settlement installment had to be programmed by the end of August, and the county council had unanimously voted to use the funding as follows: $625,404 to expand medication-assisted treatment at the prison; $208,468 for warm hand-off and certified recovery specialist services; and $208,468 school opioid prevention education programs.

In addition to the funds that must be committed to projects by the end of this year, another $1.7 million the county had received toward the end of 2023 must be spent by June 30, 2025, the presentation said.

County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, a commission member, said Monday he supports using some funding toward the county’s drug court.

The court is for adults charged with non-violent criminal offenses linked to drug or alcohol addiction, officials said. To avoid jail time, participants must complete an intensive program and prove they can stay drug free, with charges being dismissed upon graduation.

Sanguedolce said the program has been “very successful” and helped prevent many relapses.

County Drug and Alcohol Administrator Ryan Hogan also expressed strong support for the program and said it has continued to grow.

Crocamo said she and other commission members have been working hard to assess the best use of the funds.

“This means a lot to our county to make sure we get it right,” she said.

Periodic reports on outcomes of the funded programs and services also are required, she said.

Hogan said the council’s approval to expand school prevention education programs was warranted to reach more age groups, particularly those 11 and 12 years old.

“The age of experimentation is younger and younger,” he said. “We’ve had some age 7 already abusing.”

In another prior-approved program, certified recovery specialists are using their own personal experience recovering from substance use disorder to help others navigate the complex drug and alcohol treatment system and deal with their overwhelming emotions, Hogan said.

Citizen commission member Mary Butera, who works as a recovery specialist, said Monday she and her colleagues hit the streets to help the homeless and others get into treatment and access food and housing.

“We just want them to know we’re here when they need us,” Butera said.

Luzerne County should start issuing Nov. 5 general election mail ballots within seven days to voters who requested them, county Election Director Emily Cook said Monday.

Updates on voter registration counts and processing also were released Monday.

The county’s five-citizen election board unanimously approved the ballot Monday morning — a step necessary to print mail ballots and program the ballot marking devices used at polling places.

More than 26,300 voters have requested mail ballots to date, according to a figure released last week.

County officials have pushed to get mail ballots out well before the Oct. 22 state deadline so voters have sufficient time to return them by regular mail. Returned voter-completed mail ballots must be physically in the bureau by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, and postmarks do not count.

As previously reported, County Manager Romilda Crocamo has cancelled the four mail ballot drop boxes for this election, citing security and staffing concerns.

Voters will have the option to bring their ballot to the election bureau on the second floor of the county’s Penn Place Building, located on the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, the administration said.

Crocamo said plans are under review to expand election bureau hours for voters to deliver their ballots, with details to be announced once they are finalized.

Disabled voters can have someone return the ballot on their behalf if they complete a designated agent form, which is available at pa.gov.

Drop-box briefing

Crocamo briefed election board members on drop box security concerns and alerts she has received during a closed-door executive session before Monday’s meeting.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis brief issued in early September that was reported by at least one media outlet elsewhere in the country specifically warned that some social media users are promoting destruction of ballot drop boxes.

Drop boxes may be perceived as “soft targets” because they are more accessible, it said. The alert detailed a range of specific destruction methods being discussed in online forums over the last six months in addition to tactics and techniques to “limit or avoid detection.”

Following Monday’s confidential briefing, Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said she still believes other solutions could be implemented to address concerns.

Williams also said the administration is required to carry out the board’s directive to provide the four boxes. However, Williams said she does not believe the board will seek to force the matter through litigation, in part because it has no funds of its own.

“I don’t see anything the board can do,” Williams said. “It’s been very discouraging.”

On-demand voting

Now that the ballot is approved, Election Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro asked when the on-demand mail ballot voting option will be available, saying she has received inquiries.

Cook said next week. The printers used for on-demand voting must be programmed, she said.

With this option, registered voters can request and, if approved, receive a mail ballot on the spot so it can be completed and submitted in the election bureau. On-demand ballots are only be available for a short window until Oct. 29, which is the last day to apply for mail ballots.

As in the past presidential general election, the bureau plans to set up a screening area in the lobby of the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to reduce the wait inside the election bureau on the second floor of the building.

On-demand ballots take time because each application must be checked and approved while the voter waits. Long lines had formed outside Penn Place when the state started promoting this on-the-spot option before the November 2020 election, which in turn drew campaign supporters and demonstrators.

Registration processing

The county election bureau has approximately 4,000 voter registration applications to process, according to a weekly election tasks report the county election bureau released Monday afternoon:

One week ago, there were 4,100 pending registrations. The bureau processed 2,091 applications since then, but new arrivals kept the total count at the same level.

These figures include voter requests for party or address changes in addition to new registrations.

Cook has emphasized many applications are duplicates from voters submitting new applications even though they already are registered. Duplicates are consuming limited resources, she said. She asks voters to check their registration status at pavoterservices.pa.gov prior to submitting a new application.

Voter registration

When the county’s voter registration officially flipped from a Democratic to a Republican majority a week ago, the gap between the two was 83.

According to the latest state statistics posted Monday, the difference is now 410, with 87,724 Republicans and 87,314 Democrats in the county.

The county’s total voter registration is now 203,643.

The registration changes since last week:

• Republicans picked up 309

• Democrats lost 18

• Voters with other affiliations or no affiliations grew by 31. There are now 28,605 voters choosing no party or other parties.

Oct. 21 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 5 general election.

Luzerne County will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Monday (Sept. 30) to brief the public on current and possible future uses of the county’s opioid settlement funds, according to a legal notice.

The hearing will be at the county operations building, 1199 Wyoming Ave., in Wyoming borough.

It will be both in-person and virtual, and options to attend remotely will be posted at luzernecounty.org.

The county council had unanimously voted last month to earmark $1 million in opioid litigation settlement funds to expand these existing programs: medication-assisted treatment at the prison, $625,404; warm hand-off and certified recovery specialist services, $208,468; and school opioid prevention education programs, $208,468.

These allocations were recommended by the county’s Commission on Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement.

The county is expected to receive $25 million over 18 years from the state’s settlement against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors, and $1 million had to be programmed by the end of August so it did not have to be returned.

Election Board

The county’s five-citizen Election Board will meet at 10 a.m. Monday (Sept. 30) to approve the Nov. 5 general election ballot — a step required to proceed with the printing of mail ballots and programming of ballot marking devices used at polling places.

Following past practice, county Election Director Emily Cook posted ballot proofs on the election page at luzernecounty.org last week and urged the public to review them and immediately report any issues or concerns.

No other matters are on the agenda.

The meeting is at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Tax claim

The council unanimously voted last week to keep Elite Revenue Solutions LLC as the county’s tax-claim operator from 2025 through 2027, with two additional optional one-year renewals.

During public comment, county Controller Walter Griffith encouraged the council to continue the company’s contract, saying it has been “fabulous to work with” during his audits of tax collection. The staff is “very cooperative and helpful,” he said.

Elite Revenue Solutions LLC is a restructured successor entity of Northeast Revenue Services LLC, and the companies have been overseeing delinquent tax collections since prior county commissioners outsourced the service 14 years ago.

The county publicly sought proposals from prospective operators, and Elite Revenue Solutions LLC was the lone respondent, the agenda said.

Under the agreement, the county pays nothing out of pocket and receives $72,000 in revenue annually from the company’s rental of an office in the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The company is paid primarily through a penalty added to overdue school and municipal taxes collected by the county as allowed by law. Elite Revenue Solutions LLC gives the county the 5% collection fee it would have received for the county portion of taxes, which amounts to $350,000 to $400,000 annually, the agenda said.

The operator must collect overdue real estate taxes, bring eligible properties to auction and maintain a public database documenting the payment status of each property.

Hazard mitigation

The council also unanimously agreed to retain Michael Baker International Inc. to update the county’s hazard mitigation plan.

Required every five years for the county to be eligible for certain grants, the plan outlines potential natural and man-made dangers facing the county and actions to reduce risks.

Council clerk

In another unanimous vote, the council agreed to authorize council clerk Sharon Lawrence to assist the county’s Government Study Commission with meeting arrangements, county website posting and other duties.

County bridges

Council members also voted unanimously to use county interest earnings from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace the county-owned Harris Hill Road Bridge in Kingston Township ($1.9 million) and Sleepy Hollow Bridge in Butler Township ($1.2 million).

County Councilman Jimmy Sabatino, who pushed for the earmark, said he is pleased all of his colleagues supported the infrastructure projects and added that the work “can’t stop here.”

“The administration went above and beyond to support this work, and it has been a great, collaborative experience. We will continue to work together to identify additional funding sources,” Sabatino said. “Should more appropriate sources be found, we hope to retain the interest money for other areas that may need it. The hard working people of Luzerne County deserve safe, quality roads and bridges, and I’m proud that we’re taking real steps toward that goal.”

The stone arch Harris Hill Road Bridge and steel truss Sleepy Hollow Bridge were recommended because their closure has negatively impacted traffic patterns in those areas.

The Sleepy Hollow Bridge was added to the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan for future funding, but construction would have had to wait until 2027 if alternate funding had not been identified.

Luzerne County’s delinquent tax auction hit another record sales high, with bidders paying $4.6 million to purchase 164 parcels last week, according to a post-sale report.

Veteran bidder Glenn Keller again purchased the most properties at the annual first-stage sale — 21 parcels for approximately $758,300, said the report compiled by Elite Revenue Solutions, the county’s tax-claim operator.

The county’s previous overall auction high was a year ago, when bidders bought 167 parcels for $4.357 million. All figures include realty transfer tax.

A year before that, in September 2022, auction sales surpassed the $3 million mark for the first time.

County auctions have been attracting more bidders in recent years due to increased public awareness about the opportunity and heightened interest in potential bargains that may not be available through the traditional real estate market, officials have said.

Elite Revenue representative Sean Shamany said approximately 450 bidders submitted required paperwork to register for last week’s auction.

“There are more people bidding now. It’s very competitive,” Shamany said. “It’s been a very active season.”

Officially called an “upset” sale, the first-stage auction sets minimum bids at the amount of delinquent taxes and municipal liens owed. Bidders also must accept responsibility for any outstanding mortgages and non-municipal liens attached to their purchases.

As a result, taxing bodies will recoup all taxes owed on the 164 parcels sold last week, Shamany said.

The remaining 240 parcels not purchased last week will advance to a free-and-clear “judicial” sale in 2025, when delinquent taxes and liens are deducted from the minimum bid.

Properties were eligible for last week’s auction if the owners owe taxes dating back two years, or from 2022.

Approximately 3,274 parcels were eligible when Elite Revenue started compiling the sale list in June.

To avoid a sale, owners could pay everything owed through 2022, enter into a standard payment plan if they haven’t defaulted on one the prior three years or obtain temporary removal through a court order or bankruptcy.

Thousands paid, as evidenced by the drastic reduction from those initially eligible and the 400 that actual ended up in the auction, Shamany said.

“Our business is not to sell parcels. Our business is to collect taxes,” Shamany said.

As with all sales, Shamany had urged novice bidders to fully research prospective purchases, particularly liens and mortgages.

“We always stress that and hope everyone did their due diligence so they are not getting a surprise,” he said.

Top buyer

A Jim Thorpe-based investor, Keller has said he and his team physically visit each prospective purchase site to get a feel for the neighborhood and condition of structures based on an exterior view, as opposed to relying on online real estate platforms that may have dated or inaccurate information.

Court records also must be searched to identify liens or estate issues that will fall on the successful bidder, he had said.

Sometimes all that preparation is for nothing because a promising parcel can be removed from the sale list shortly before an auction.

When a bid is accepted, litigation and negotiating with lien holders often are necessary to obtain a clear property title, he has said. Sometimes he has to pay liens in full, and other times a reduced payout is accepted.

While resale is usually the end goal, Keller sometimes rents out properties while working through litigation.

In addition to time and money leading up to the title acquisition, there’s investment in cleaning out and renovating properties, including some packed with debris or requiring significant repairs due to neglect, he had said.

Last year, he paid $1.6 million to purchase 58 properties at the September upset auction. He also stood out in the 2022 sale, acquiring 48 properties for $1.1 million.

Keller’s new purchases, along with the winning bid amounts, according to Elite Revenue’s report: 706 McAlpine St., Avoca, $13,000; 2035 Bear Creek Blvd., Bear Creek Township, $28,000; 1205 adjacent Beech Road, Bear Creek Township, $108,000; 209 Owego Dr., Black Creek Township, $40,000; lot in Butler Township, $66,000; parcel on Scenic View Drive, Dallas Township, $56,000; 233 Elm St., Dupont, $52,000; 771 Hazle St., Hanover Township, $42,000; 132 E. Maple St., Hazleton, $31,000; 716 Grant St., Hazleton, $43,000; 1506 Terrace Blvd., Hazleton, $146,000; parcel on Mountain Road, Huntington Township, $3,684; 249 Howard St., Larksville, $28,000; 23 W. Luzerne Ave., Larksville, $31,000; 353 E. Poplar St., Plymouth Township, $17,500; 522 Hartman Rd., Plymouth Township, $31,000; 5240 Main Road, Ross Township, $8,653; 5238 Main Rd., Ross Township, $778; 2 Sunset Terrace, Ross Township, $11,500; 12 Gillespie St., Swoyersville, $9,643; and 62 Diamond St., Swoyersville, $15,500.

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Diane McGee, Times Leader Media Group advertising director, said the Times Leader has always taken the lead for hosting job fairs for Northeastern Pennsylvania. McGee said this week’s expo, at the Mohegan Arena concourse, is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Parking and entry are free.

As a media property, McGee said the Times Leader has promoted the expo through a variety of organic and paid media outlets within the market:

• Daily newspaper ads.

• Timesleader.com high impact ads.

• Cumulus radio.

• PA Live! And WBRE commercials.

• Paid social media and programmatic advertising.

• Targeted email blasts to local job seekers, Big Foot Media and more.

Job seekers are ready to visit, McGee said.

“Looking at our preregistration numbers, we can see job seekers are excited and ready to see what opportunities are available” McGee said. “Our recruiters are excited to engage with prospective job candidates.”

McGee also said to make sure you check out the recruitment advertising section in today’s Times Leader.

“It will give you a great range of jobs that these local employers are hiring for,” McGee said.

To register in advance for the expo for a chance to win prizes, visit timesleader.com/jobseeker. Or we’ll just see you on Tuesday.

NANTICOKE — The start was sluggish for Lake-Lehman, but once the Black Knights got locked in there wasn’t much that Nanticoke Area could do.

Lake-Lehman scored twice in 11 seconds midway through the second quarter to take firm control of the game and never let it go, running through Nanticoke Area 35-7 to improve to 4-2 on the year, 2-0 in Division 2.

“I thought we played a little too wild in the beginning, guys weren’t playing assignment football,” Lake-Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “You saw the difference in the second half.”

Quarterback Hayden Evans and wideout Chris Sholtis connected for three Lake-Lehman touchdowns, and the senior wide receiver ended his night with 119 yards receiving even as a rainy night in Nanticoke made it difficult to do much through the air.

The two teams played a relatively even first quarter, with Nanticoke Area’s defense winning in the trenches and sacking Evans twice, both times for big losses.

The game changed in the second quarter, after a goal line stand gave the Black Knights the ball pinned back against their own end zone.

Jaydon Skipalis busted a 48-yard run out to midfield to give his team some breathing room, and a long completion to Sholtis set up Jim Mitkowski for a short touchdown run to give Lake-Lehman the lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Nanticoke Area’s return man coughed up the football and gave the Black Knights the ball back deep in Trojan territory.

They needed just one play: Evans found Sholtis wide open for 24 yards and a score, and in the blink of an eye Lake-Lehman led 14-0.

“Every team would love a momentum switch like that to finish the half,” Gilsky said.

After a long touchdown run from Treston Allen to get Nanticoke on the board, Evans and Sholtis linked up for another touchdown right before half.

Allen finished with 135 yards on 35 carries, 68 of those yards coming on that long second-quarter score. Other than that, the Black Knights defense did a good job bottling the shifty ball-carrier up, preventing him from finding any more chunk plays with his legs.

With Allen bottled up in the second half, there wasn’t much else Nanticoke Area could do. Quarterback Mike Stachowiak was held without a completed pass in the second half, and the Lake-Lehman defense picked him off in the third quarter.

Evans and Sholtis would complete the hat trick in the fourth quarter, and Ben Dowling tacked on a ten-yard touchdown run with just over two minutes remaining to wrap things up.

Evans finished with 178 yards passing, three touchdowns and one interception (made by Nanticoke Area defensive back James Bush).

Lake-Lehman will host Tunkhannock next Friday night, while Nanticoke Area (1-5, 1-1 WVC Div. 2) will hit the road to take on Berwick.

Lake-Lehman 35, Nanticoke Area 7

Lake-Lehman`0`21`0`14 — 35

Nanticoke Area`0`7`0`0 — 7

Second quarter

LL — Jim Mitkowski 1 run (kick blocked), 4:28

LL — Chris Sholtis 24 pass from Hayden Evans (Anthony Magnotta pass from Evans), 4:17

NAN — Treston Allen 68 run (J.P. Pastuizaca kick), 2:59

LL — Sholtis 13 pass from Evans (Reilley Kirkutis kick), 1:05

Fourth quarter

LL — Sholtis 62 pass from Evans (Kirkutis kick), 6:19

LL — Ben Dowling 10 run (Logan Law kick), 2:37

Team statistics`LL`NAN

First downs`11`7

Rushes-yards`25-113`41-175

Passing yards`178`21

Total yards`291`196

Passing`8-16-1`1-5-1

Sacked-yards lost`3-26`0-0

Punts-avg.`4-35`3-34.6

Fumbles-lost`0-0`3-1

Penalties-yards`5-53`14-84

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — LL, Evans 3-(minus-26), Mitkowski 13-48, Jaydon Skipalis 6-78, Alex Smith 1-3, Dowling 2-10. NAN, Allen 35-135, Mike Stachowiak 9-38, Tyler Skordensky 1-5, Serafino Raggi 1-(minus-3).

PASSING — LL, Evans 8-16-1-178. NAN, Stachowiak 1-5-1-21.

RECEIVING — LL, Sholtis 4-119, Dowling 2-37, Smith 1-25, Mitkowski 1-(minus-3). NAN, Skordensky 1-21.

INTERCEPTIONS — LL, Logan Deyo 1-0. NAN, James Bush 1-24.

MISSED FGs — none.

On a warm, sometimes rainy Friday night in the Back Mountain, the hometown Dallas Mountaineers seized their third consecutive win with a 45-28 triumph over the visiting North Pocono Trojans to even up their record at 3-3 on the season.

Dallas and North Pocono are now on two ends of the streaky spectrum, as the Mountaineers who began the season dropping three straight games are now on a red hot three game winning streak and are 3-3, meanwhile, the Trojans who started the year a stellar 3-0 now have dropped three consecutive contests and sit at 3-3 on the season tally.

Nate Malarkey, who scored two touchdowns for the Mounts, was happy with his team’s solid effort and how they are starting to roll on this winning streak.

“We don’t talk about last season and the state championship run anymore, but if you go back to last season, the first three games if a couple of plays don’t go our way, we are 0-3,” Malarkey said. “This year a couple of plays didn’t go our way we were 0-3. We just couldn’t let it affect our season.

“We could have easily folded and we would have been 0-6 right now if we just folded. We just kept going, there’s no doubt, we just do what we have to do to win and keep going.”

Dallas started the scoring party early and outscored the Trojans by a 10-0 margin in the first quarter. Mounts senior kicker Rowan Laubach gave his club an initial 3-0 lead with 8:36 left in the first quarter when he connected on a 41-yard field goal.

For Dallas’ other points in the quarter, the Mountaineers defense shined bright, as senior Gavin Lewis picked off a pass from Trojans sophomore signal caller Chase Zimmerman and took it all the way to the house for a 27-yard interception return touchdown to stretch his squad’s advantage to 10-0 with 3:19 remaining in the stanza.

In the second quarter of play, both teams scored 10 points apiece, as Dallas would enjoy a 24-14 lead heading into the half-time break in the action. North Pocono this time got in on the scoring party when their senior tailback Brady Lavery barreled through numerous would-be tacklers for a 10-yard rushing touchdown just 42 seconds into the quarter. That cut the deficit to 10-7.

Dallas, however, would come right back, as senior quarterback Brady Zapoticky scampered into the end zone from 6 yards out to give his team a 17-7 advantage with 5:13 left in the first half, completing an impressive 82-yard scoring drive for the Mounts.

In this back-and-forth affair, the Trojans came storming back, as Zimmerman connected with his junior tight end Nico DeSantis for a 5-yard scoring strike with just 42 seconds left before the half-time whistle.

That momentum before halftime would be short lived however, as Dallas scored an awe-inspiring 64-yard touchdown with just 10 seconds left before the break in action, as Malarkey took a short Zapoticky pass and went on an electrifying sprint to paydirt to give his club the 24-14 cushion at the break.

North Pocono would come fighting right back to start the second half, as Zimmerman scored from 9 yards out to cut the deficit to a mere three points at 24-21 with 9:48 remaining in the third quarter.

However, for a big momentum swing Dallas’ special teams showed up in a big way, as Malarkey came through with the clutch punt block and his teammate Sam Kelley recovered the ball for the touchdown to extend his team’s lead to 31-21 with 2:44 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth, Dallas kicked off the scoring when Malarkey completed his team’s stalwart 68-yard scoring drive by pounding his way into the end zone from 2 yards out for a 38-21 advantage with 9:26 left in regulation.

The Trojans though would come right back and show some life as Zimmerman found junior tight end Evan Wolff for a big 63-yard aerial scoring strike to cut the deficit to 38-28 with 8:07 left in the game.

Dallas would finally put away the contest for good with just 38 seconds left in the fourth when Zapoticky found a wide-open Lewis for a 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Mounts a 45-28 cushion.

Now coach Rich Mannello and his Mountaineers will look to make it four in a row in the win column when they go on the road next Friday night under the lights to take on the Wyoming Valley West Spartans in Kingston.

Meanwhile, head coach Greg Dohon and his 3-3 Trojans will look to snap their three-game losing skid when they host a tough Valley View Cougars squad next Friday night.

Dallas 45, North Pocono 28

North Pocono`0`14`7`7 — 28

Dallas`10`14`7`14 — 45

First Quarter

DAL — Rowan Laubach 41 field goal, 8:36.

DAL — Gavin Lewis 27 interception return (Laubach kick), 3:19.

Second Quarter

NP — Brady Lavery 10 run (Sam Magnotta kick), 11:18

DAL — Brady Zapoticky 6 run (Laubach kick), 5:13.

NP — Nico DeSantis 5 pass from Chase Zimmerman (Magnotta kick), 0:42.

DAL — Nate Malarkey 64 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 0:10.

Third Quarter

NP — Zimmerman 9 run (Magnotta kick), 9:48.

DAL — Sam Kelley punt block recovery in end zone (Laubach kick), 2:44.

Fourth Quarter

DAL — Malarkey 2 run (Laubach kick), 9:26.

NP — Evan Wolff 63 pass from Zimmerman (Magnotta kick), 8:07.

DAL — Lewis 25 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 0:38.

Team statistics `North Pocono `Dallas

First downs`15`12

Rushes-yards`36-194`26-59

Passing yards`116`217

Total yards`310`276

Passing`6-16-2-2`13-20-2-0

Sacked-yards lost`2-10`3-25

Punts-avg.`3-28`6-35

Fumbles-lost`3-1`1-0

Penalties-yards`16-115`12-110

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — NP, Brady Lavery 16-86, Chase Zimmerman 9-77, Joe Briskie 7-28, Josiah Gray 2-3, Jayden Taylor 1-2, Cole West 1-neg.2. DA, Dylan Geskey 12-28, Brady Zapoticky 11-27, Nate Malarkey 3-4.

PASSING — NP, Chase Zimmerman 6-16-116-2-2. DA, Brady Zapoticky 13-20-217-2-0.

RECEIVING — NP, Mike Stout 3-22, Cole West 1-26, Evan Wolff 1-63, Nico DeSantis 1-5. DA, Gavin Lewis 6-47, Nate Malarkey 6-166, Logan Geskey 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS — NP, None. DA, Gavin Lewis 1-27, Nate Malarkey 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.

Attorneys representing the Democratic National Committee, Pennsylvania Democratic Party and other related entities emailed a letter to Luzerne County solicitors Friday contesting county Manager Romilda Crocamo’s authority to eliminate the county’s four mail ballot drop boxes.

The attorneys said they want to underscore the county Election Board’s legal authority to authorize drop boxes and the county manager’s “lack of authority to undermine that decision.”

“To put it bluntly, the Board, and only the Board, has the power to decide whether Luzerne County will provide ballot drop boxes for the 2024 general election. Any actions or statements by the county manager on the topic are completely without legal authority or merit,” the letter said, underlining that sentence for emphasis.

It urges the volunteer, five-citizen election board to “stay the course” and ensure county mail ballot voters have the option to use drop boxes for the Nov. 5 general election.

Authored by Elias Law Group Attorneys Rachel L. Jacobs, Jacquelyn Lopez and Daniel J. Cohen, the letter also was sent on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, it said. They emailed it to county Chief Solicitor Harry W. Skene and county Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino.

Crocamo has said she discontinued the boxes primarily due to a fear they would be targeted, injuring people, property and the ballots inside.

“I’m worried about violent acts to voters using the drop boxes and to the potential damage to the ballots that are inside the boxes,” Crocamo said Friday, noting she will be briefing the election board in closed-door executive session Monday about some of the information she used to reach her decision.

The dispute about Crocamo’s authority in Friday’s letter also was raised earlier this week in a communication from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

Crocamo had said in response to the ACLU communication that she was “surprised and disheartened that they have not grasped nor respect that I have an obligation to protect my staff, county property and the ballots themselves.”

The ACLU communication urged Crocamo to withdraw her statement ordering the removal and discontinuance of drop boxes so that the county election board may, if it chooses, consider the issue “under its statutory and home rule charter authority.”

Under the county’s charter, council appoints four citizens — two Republicans and two Democrats — and those four citizens then select a fifth member of any affiliation or no affiliation to serve as chair. Because current chairwoman Denise Williams is a Democrat, the board has three Democrats and two Republicans.

Because the county manager oversees election bureau staff, the roles and powers of the board and manager have been a source of debate since the home rule charter took effect in January 2012. This is one of the issues that likely will be explored by the county Government Study Commission, which was activated by county April 23 primary election voters to consider and possibly recommend charter revisions.

Friday’s letter said the manager has “no legitimate legal basis to determine whether the county will use ballot drop boxes” because the election board exclusively holds that authority under both Pennsylvania law and the county home rule charter.

It said the county manager’s powers are limited to “administrative” under the charter.

“In other words, the county manager does not set policy; they implement policy,” it said.

“Nowhere in the charter’s list of the county manager’s powers and duties is there any mention of determining the use of ballot drop boxes, determining election policy generally, or otherwise performing the board’s duties in conducting elections,” it said.

Friday’s communication also maintains the manager cannot withhold funding or personnel if the board enacts a policy, such as drop boxes. The county manager’s “job is to make that policy work the best they can with the resources they have available,” it said.

”Simply put, the county manager’s legal administrative responsibilities have nothing to do with the Board’s role in determining the use of ballot drop boxes. The county manager’s actions and statements to undermine the Board’s role completely disregard the law and charter, and threaten to sow chaos in the 2024 election,” it said.

The board “can and should proceed as planned” with four drop boxes, it said.

In addition to the ACLU, 27 organizations have criticized the county manager’s announcement while Republicans have “hailed” it, the letter said.

It questions if the “entire debacle” was prompted by a Sept. 6 letter sent by Republican National Committee legal counsel to Skene stating the county is responsible for securing drop boxes if it exercises its discretion to use them.

“If the county does not confirm it will fulfill its duties under the Election Code to assure that ballot drop boxes are secure, the Republican National Committee will pursue all available legal remedies to protect the integrity of the election,” the Republican National Committee attorney had said.

Crocamo has said the Republican communication was addressed to Skene and that her decision to eliminate the boxes was made “prior to any knowledge of this correspondence.”

Friday’s letter also asserts Crocamo’s “purported concerns about safety and security are unfounded.”

“We urge you to serve your constituents, fulfill your legal duty and ensure that voters of Luzerne County once again have the opportunity to use drop boxes in Luzerne County as they have become accustomed to over the last four years,” said the letter, which was also copied to Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry.

Both Crocamo and State Sen. Marty Flynn (D-Scranton) sent letters to Henry this week requesting an investigation of the matter.