The Luzerne County Board of Elections voted Wednesday to ask District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce to investigate four ballots from the April primary election, all of which were signed by the same witness rather than the voters to whom the ballots were mailed.

That vote came just before the start of a contentious meeting where Republican activist Scott Presler said he planned to sue the county and residents raised questions about how the elections office preempts voter registrations, on-demand voting and mail-in ballots handles general election on November 5th.

Disputed ballots

The board rejected the four disputed ballots during its post-primary decision and asked the elections office to investigate because each ballot was signed by the same witness instead of a voter's signature.

Deputy Supervisor of Elections Steve Hahn told the board he spoke to the witness who signed the ballots. According to Hahn, the witness said the four people who received the ballots live in a nursing home and are unable to sign their names or check the box provided on the outer return envelope of the ballot package the box is too small.

At the time, board members wondered how voters could fill out small ovals next to candidates' names on the ballot if they were unable to sign the larger box on the outer envelope. The board rejected all four ballots.

Since then, citizens including Joe Granteed of Plains Twp. and Greg Griffin of Swoyersville have asked the Board of Elections and County Council to refer the matter to the district attorney's office.

On Wednesday, their wish was granted when election board members Denise Williams, Alyssa Fusaro, Daniel Schramm, Rick Morelli and Albert Schlosser voted unanimously to commission Sanguedolce to investigate.

suit

During a lengthy and at times heated public comment session, Presler said he planned to file a lawsuit Thursday against the county, the board of elections and the elections office.

“Voters have been repeatedly disenfranchised in this county,” Presler said.

Presler did not say what is alleged in the complaint or what relief is being sought. He attended recent elections board meetings and criticized county election officials for their alleged mishandling of voter registration applications, absentee ballot applications and other matters.

Presler hosted voter registration drives throughout the county and state through the Oct. 21 deadline.

Before Presler announced the pending lawsuit, District Manager Romilda Crocamo said the office was “making good progress” in its preparations for the November election, which is expected to see large turnout for the hotly contested presidential race.

The office had about 2,500 outstanding voter registration applications as of Wednesday, Crocamo said. It has issued about 51,000 mail-in ballots and received about 17,000 ballots that voters have returned, she said.

Employees from the elections office and other county departments work evenings and weekends to process registration applications and complete other election-related tasks, Crocamo said.

Many of the registration applications the office receives are duplicates, generated when already registered voters renew their driver's licenses and don't opt ​​out of automatic voter registration, she said.

“I’m very proud of the work the office does,” Crocamo said. “We will complete these registrations.”

Public comments raised numerous questions about the county's preparations for the election, which is less than two weeks away. Several speakers said the county needs to hire more employees in the busy election office.

Originally published: October 23, 2024 at 10:06 p.m