Dallas City News

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt spent time at Luzerne County’s Election Bureau and voting equipment warehouse in Wilkes-Barre Thursday as part of an ongoing statewide tour of all 67 county election operations.

Schmidt told a group of county officials in the warehouse on Water Street that he previously ran elections in Philadelphia County for a decade but wanted to learn more about experiences in all counties to determine how the state can be more supportive.

For example, the state has started offering new training for election directors in response to “significant turnover” of election administrators across the state, which is a national issue, Schmidt said.

The Pennsylvania Department of State assembled a team led by an experienced election director to design training covering each stage of election preparation requirements leading up to Election Day, he said. Participation has been “terrific,” he said, noting the sessions are recorded for those unable to attend.

County Acting Election Director Emily Cook said she has attended all available state training sessions.

Schmidt said he received positive feedback Thursday about Cook’s performance in the oversight role.

He described election administration as a “difficult” and “stressful” job.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo thanked Schmidt for visiting and said his administration is a “breath of fresh air” in listening to concerns and helping solve election issues.

“We all know that Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American democracy, and I can tell you with your leadership, we are going to be the gold standard in bringing free, fair and transparent elections to Luzerne County and the state of Pennsylvania,” Crocamo said.

Schmidt said listening to counties is important because “at the end of the day the counties run the election.”

“We have oversight responsibility. We can provide guidance. We issue directives. We do other things like that, but it really comes down to each county and election director and the team to make sure Election Day goes smoothly,” he said.

All counties have an interest in helping others succeed because anything amiss in one impacts them all, he said.

Schmidt said Gov. Josh Shapiro is “deeply committed to making sure every vote is counted,” to protecting voting rights and to pushing back against “a lot of the misinformation and disinformation swirling around.”

“Elections have changed so much in the past few years, and it’s no wonder people have so many questions about them,” Schmidt said.

Those involved in elections must investigate all allegations of irregularities, listen to and answer questions and “tell the truth all the time,” he said.

“But it’s also important that when people ask questions, they’re actually seeking answers to those questions and are not asking questions to undermine confidence in election results,” he said.

Changes and “growing pains” the last few years have resulted in the “safest and most fair elections we’ve ever experienced in our Commonwealth,” he told the group.

There are now voter-verifiable, paper ballot records of each vote cast that are also subjected to two audits after every election to ensure the results are accurate, he said.

County Controller Walter Griffith thanked state officials and legislators for providing Election Integrity Grants exceeding $1 million to the county annually to help fund election costs, including equipment. Griffith said a portion of that funding is purchasing new electronic poll books for voter sign-in at polling places so the county does not have to rely on paper poll books.

Council Chairman John Lombardo said the county has been trying to increase election transparency and asked for any suggestions.

Schmidt said Philadelphia livestreamed its mail ballot processing.

Lombardo and Crocamo said the county is looking into that possibility.

County Council members Jimmy Sabatino, Harry Haas and Joanna Bryn Smith also attended Thursday’s visit along with county Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams, Vice Chairwoman Alyssa Fusaro and board members Albert Schlosser and Daniel Schramm.

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