Luzerne County manager expounds on reasoning behind mail ballot drop box elimination

Bombarded with both credit and condemnation for eliminating mail ballot drop boxes, Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo shed more light on the reasoning behind her decision.

Rising to the top was a fear the boxes would be targeted, injuring people, property and the ballots inside, she said.

Crocamo said multiple county departments have been working closely with law enforcement at all levels to implement measures that safeguard the county's voters, election workers, poll workers, judges of election and voting equipment that must be deployed in 186 voting precincts countywide in the Nov. 5 general election.

Safe and secure polling places are mandated by state law, she said. Drop boxes are not, and prioritizing is required, she added.

Crocamo said she can't publicly detail all the precautions for security reasons, but said they are "unprecedented" because "people are at a boiling point."

"This election is not like any other election. If anybody thinks it is, I hope they're well rested from the rock that they're sleeping under, because that's the reality," Crocamo said.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis brief issued earlier this month specifically warned that some social media users are promoting destruction of ballot drop boxes, according to a copy of the bulletin reviewed by the Times Leader and reported by at least one media outlet elsewhere in the country.

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."

It notes an unidentified individual in southern California placed burning newspaper into an unmonitored ballot drop box before the November 2020 election, damaging approximately 100 ballots. In Massachusetts, someone ignited a drop box, damaging about 35 ballots. Police do not believe that offender was politically motivated and charged the individual with willful and malicious burning, it said.

Crocamo said she cannot publicly comment on federal law enforcement security briefings but acknowledged she is taking all shared intelligence seriously because she would rather over-prepare and face a backlash over her decision if she prevents someone from being hurt.

"It's a sad world that we live in. This is the reality that we live in. It's sad. I don't know how else to put it," Crocamo said. "We're constantly getting updated intelligence from not only the Pennsylvania Department of State but other security organizations, and you have to take that seriously."

Video surveillance recording of drop boxes could be useful after the fact for investigatory purposes, but it won't stop someone from malicious, destructive acts, she said.

Some drop box advocates have been arguing the county should assign staff to guard the boxes and check the ballots being deposited, even if it means the number of boxes must be reduced. The county had been providing four boxes in Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Mountain Top and the Back Mountain.

Crocamo said the county sheriff's department is already short-staffed and stretched thin covering its mandated and essential responsibilities, which include securing county buildings and courtrooms and transporting prison inmates.

She also has expressed concerns about security issues involving the buildings that would house the boxes and potential technical issues with the surveillance footage.

"There's a lot of reasons why I cannot guarantee the safety and security of the drop boxes," Crocamo said. "What I need to concentrate on for preparation and resources is making sure that the polling sites and our election workers and voters are safe and secure. That's what we're doing."

Crocamo said it was "not a political decision." Crocamo is a lifelong Democrat, and county council has a Republican majority with members that outright oppose the boxes.

Voter options

Because there won't be four drop boxes, it's more urgent than ever that the county continues its past practice of sending out mail ballots as soon as possible so voters choosing that option have enough time to complete and return them by regular mail.

Mail ballots must be physically in the bureau by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, and postmarks do not count.

The county administration said it plans to start sending out the ballots in early October. It technically can wait until Oct. 22, which is the state deadline to issue ballots, but county officials said that is too close to the election.

Mail ballot voters also can continue returning their ballots to the county's Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre, but they will have to go through a metal detector and take them to the election bureau on the second floor instead of depositing them in a drop box in the building's vestibule.

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

Under Pennsylvania law, voters must return their own ballots unless they are disabled.

The form said anyone can be a designated agent except the voter's employer or employer's agent or an officer or agent of the voter's union.

"It is illegal for anybody to intimidate or coerce you in exercising your right to vote," the state's form instructions said.

If a voter has not yet returned the mail ballot one week before an election, county Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams does not advise relying on regular mail. As previously reported, 190 mail ballots sent through regular mail in the county's April 23 primary election were not accepted because they arrived after the deadline.

Instead, Williams recommends these voters take their ballot to the election bureau, selecting a designated agent if necessary, or vote at their polling place.

There are two ways to vote at the polls if mail ballots were requested:

• Bring the mail ballot packet, including envelopes, to the polling place to be voided so a ballot can be cast on the ballot marking device.

• Cast a paper provisional ballot at the polling place. The election board processes provisional ballots during post-election adjudication to verify the voter did not also return a mail ballot.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter