Dallas City News

Luzerne County officials provided responses last week to a series of election-related questions ranging from what’s being done to keep voter rolls accurate and ensure noncitizens cannot vote.

The inquiries during public comment in the county Election Board meeting also included concerns about polling place power outages, machine hacking and running out of paper.

Noncitizens

Several residents expressed fears noncitizens would be voting.

Election Director Emily Cook directed voters to the Pennsylvania Department of State’s online election claims fact-checking site at www.pa.gov (type election fact-checking in search box), which includes a post about this topic.

According to the state:

To be eligible to register to vote in Pennsylvania, applicants must be a U.S. citizen for at least 30 days, a resident of Pennsylvania for at least 30 days and at least 18 years old on or before the date of the next election. ​

Those visiting a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation driver or photo license center to apply for a driver’s license or other state ID must provide documentation that proves their age, residency and citizenship — all requirements needed to determine if a person is eligible to register to vote in Pennsylvania.

During this visit, a screen allowing them to register to vote will only activate if they submitted the documentation proving they are eligible to vote (age, residency, citizenship).

For those registering to vote outside this PennDOT license center process, the registration application requires voters to provide the last four digits of their social security number or the number on their PA driver’s license or PennDOT ID card.

Cook said the submitted information is checked through state databases, and an application would be flagged and not approved if the data fails to match up.

Voter rolls

After commending Cook on her work in this year’s primary and recent promotion to election director, Ross Township resident Jamie Walsh brought up Judicial Watch Inc.’s 2022 complaint against Pennsylvania and five counties asserting inactive voter purging requirements were not met.

Judicial Watch is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation. The state and counties reached a settlement with the entity in 2023 that included an agreement to keep purges up to date.

“Are we in the situation now where our voter rolls are clean? They’re 100% up to date?” Walsh asked.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said reports must be submitted through the Department of State, and the county is in full compliance with the settlement.

Cook said the county is following laws on all voter roll maintenance and most recently sent a series of written communications this summer to voters flagged as having potential address changes — 1,497 for relocations within the county, 339 for moves to other counties in the state and 987 out-of-state notices. The election bureau also sent 842 address verification notices and 393 notices to those with no voting activity in five years, she said.

In accordance with law, records are then updated to track the voters’ responses or failure to respond, she said.

“Claiming that the county does not follow proper voter roll removal procedures is patently false,” Cook said.

She noted “numerous sources out there” are sharing outdated information.

“These entities and individuals are making false claims regarding voter roll maintenance procedures and what we legally can and cannot do,” Cook said.

Walsh thanked Cook for the “great response.”

Cook noted after the meeting the bureau also promptly cancels the registration of deceased voters based on death notices from the state and other validated information.

Election Board Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro told a citizen she has performed her own checks to verify the registrations of deceased acquaintances had been removed.

Election preparations

A Nanticoke man asked if there’s a plan to ensure polling locations don’t run out of paper as they did in the November 2022 general election.

Cook said more than 1 million sheets of paper are currently stored in the county’s voting equipment warehouse.

He also asked if all polling places have back-up generators in case the power goes out.

Crocamo said contingency plans are in place to use available county emergency response generators.

Cook also said all voting equipment has back-up batteries.

A Jackson Township man asked if any voting equipment is tied to an open internet connection.

Cook said no, and Fusaro said “absolutely not.”

Fusaro said she and other election board members have personally verified this.

Speaking in general, Crocamo said after the meeting that multiple county departments have been huddling to plan for the Nov. 5 general election.

“We already started upgrading security measures and preparing for multiple contingencies on Election Day and prior to Election Day,” Crocamo said. “We’re concentrating on securing polling places and will have alternatives if anything should happen on Election Day.”

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