NorCo Voting Registrar Discusses Preparations For Presidential Primary

This year's Presidential Primary is scheduled for April 23, 2024 in Pennsylvania. With slightly more than a month to go, Northampton County Council's "Election Integrity Commitee" finally kicked off its inaugural meeting yesterday afternoon. This tardiness is a clear demonstration why part-time elected officials whose role is oversight should leave county administration to administrators. Nevertheless, the meeting provided some insight into what steps election officials are taking to make sure those who vote in person can do so without worrying whether it will be counted. All Council members except John Brown and Ken Kraft were there. 

Elections Registrar Chris Commini explained some of the steps his office is taking.

1) Training. - Training is mandatory for all 780 plus elections workers.  Thus far, 18 classes have been conducted for judges of elections (JOE) and machine operators, with 10 more classes scheduled in April for minority and majority inspectors, as well as clerks. 

2) Privacy screens. - Each of 154 precincts will get two privacy screens for voters who are filling out emergency or provisional ballots. 

3) Emergency paper ballots. - In the last election, when a flaw was discovered with the Express Vote XL, elections officials were temporarily directed to have voters fill out what are called emergency ballots.  Each precinct was only supplied with about 20 and quickly ran out. Provisional ballots were then used, but those supplies were quickly exhausted as well. As a result, some voters had to be turned away and were told to return later. 

Commini said the state requires that there be emergency ballot for 20% of each precinct's voters. His office will prepare them for 30% of the voter registration. Each JOE will be supplied with 100 emergency ballots. If those supplies are exhauster, a runner will bring additional ballots. In the general election, a higher percentage of emergency ballots will be prepared. 

4) Mail-in Ballots (MIBs). - They will be contained in larger envelopes so that voters are more likely to recognize them. Voters who fail to sign or who provide an incorrect date with their return will be notified and have until 8 pm on Election Day to cure any defect. 

Both Council members Jeff Warren and Kelly Keagan spoke positively about MIBs. Keegan stated she receives emails when her ballot is returned, which gives her peace of mind. Warren stated his own mother es able to cure a defect on her MIB when she neglected to fill in the date. 

5) Drop Boxes. - Two drop boxes were added in Washington and East Allen Tp in the slate belt and northern tier, which is more spread out than the rest of the county. A drop box has been added in south Bethlehem because the current drop box on the north side is only open until 4 pm. All drop boxes are under 24-hour video surveillance and must be in a secure building. They must be accessible (ADA) to any voter. 

6) Key dates. - Voter registration deadline is April 8, 5 pm. Applications for MIBs must be received by April 16, 5 pm. Those ballots must be returned by 8 pm on election day. Postmarks do not count. They must be brought to the elections office, not the voting precinct.  They can surrender their ballot at the precinct on election day and vote by machine if they wish. The primary is closed. Independents are unable to vote in a Democratic or Republican primary, with the exception of referendum questions. If an Independent appears and decides he wants to become a Democrat or Republican, it's too late. On April 23, polls will be open from 7 am until 8 pm. 

7) Logic and Accuracy (L&A) Testing. Each machine is subjected to public L&A testing. No date has been established until a ballot challenge is finalized in court. Dates will be set up in early April.. Parties will be notified as well as any person who requests notice. 

8) Precinct cell phones. - Instead of basting out text messages, which happened in the 2023 election, the elections office will have 18 people on hand to speak personally with JOEs. Commini said most problems occur when setting up the machines and epollbooks. Before the phones go out, they will all be updated, and all judges will be asked to phone in to indicate it actually is operable. 

9) The state has established a $45 million election integrity fund for the counties. This year, NorCo will receive about $1.15 million. This can be used to purchase equipment, required polling place material, rent, payments to poll workers, purging voter rolls, training costs, etc.

Questions: 

1) Can someone appear at the polls and insist on voting by paper or provisional ballot? - Commini stated that the standards for provisional or emergency ballots are set by the state and that a person may vote that way only under limited circumstances, such as when a machine goes down or his eligibility is called into question. 

In my view, this is incorrect and inconsistent with the federal Help America Vote Act, which established provisional voting precisely to ensure that everyone's voice is heard. Commini stated that if someone insists on voting by paper or provisionally, "We're not going to turn you away."

2) What about people who drop off multiple ballots in a drop box? If someone sees this, it can be reported, and the surveillance video will be examined. In 2020, then GOP chair had watchers posted at various drop boxes, one of whom complained that she saw a person dropping off multiple ballots. According to Exec Lamont McClure, the person was identified. Investigation revealed she was a Republican. She was not prosecuted, and my guess is that she probably was dropping off votes for her family. "In America, we don't go looking for crimes. We're not setting up a sting." But he said nothing prevents watchers from reporting possible violations. 

3) Are elections offices targeted with vexatious Right-to-Know requests? - After the 2023 election, there was a massive number of requests. Exec Lamont McClure said Right-to-Know abuse could be the subject of an entire meeting. He acknowledged that folks "have a right to know what we do," but the number of requests coming in is burdensome. 

4) What is the role of the elections commission in a home rule county? - Michael Vargo, Solicitor to the Elections Commission, will respond to that question at a future meeting. 

5) Does the elections office need anything? - Commini said he could use more space. He has 8 people permanent. There will be numerous temps over the election season. He complimented Deputy Amy Hess for recruiting a large number of poll workers.