Dallas City News

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.

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