Every election cycle, Northampton County's elections office conducts what amounts to three elections. First, mail-in balloting enables a voter to apply for and either mail in his choice for various offices or drop off his ballot at one of seven secure ballot boxes throughout the county. Second, ballot-by-demand enables a voter to appear at the elections or a satellite office, request his ballot and complete it on the spot. Third, there's traditional in-person voting at precincts on election day. Now, elections registrar Chris Commini is proposing a fourth election. At a special meeting of the elections commission yesterday, he sought a blessing for "pop up voter service events to expand access for voters in Northampton County ahead of the 2026 primary election."
Commini said that pop-up voter services are the same as that provided with ballot-by-demand at the county or satellite offices, but at different locales. People can register to vote, complete a mail-in ballot application, receive their ballot and either drop it off or take home for review. A $40 drop box will be available and will be returned to the elections office by deputy sheriffs. These services would exist until May 12, the last day on which mail-in ballots can be requested.
The two locations under consideration are Lafayette College and Northampton Community College. While this might make it easier for students to register and vote, it will be difficult for the elderly or handicapped to walk the rather large parking lots at Northampton Community College or to find convenient parking at Lafayette. So it's really no service to the elderly. But if the pilot program is successful in this year's primary, Commini noted that these services could be offered at numerous fairs and festivals with a more diverse audience. I'd suggest that it be offered at area nursing homes and senior housing as well. Solicitor Michael Vargo and Commini both noted that Montgomery County uses a van as a satellite office for ballot by demand at different events.
The sole Commissioner to vote No to this proposal was Scott Hough. "I'm worried about security and I'm worried about fairness," he said. Since the pop-up event would be manned by existing staff and the mobile drop box would be transported by deputy sheriffs, it appears that this is secure. But fairness? In a primary, pop-up services that target two colleges might adversely impact more conservative Democrats. And in a general election, pop-up services that are limited to colleges would be a boon to Democrats and would hurt Republicans. For that reason, it would be important to have locations that attract Republicans.
On top of this concern is Murphy's Law. If something can go wrong, it will. In recent years, we've had machine failures, ballot issues and voters who have received ballots for the wrong district. I am far from confident that this is the right time and would be more comfortable with this laudable effort to increase access if we could first pull of one or two elections without too many issues. Perhaps that is never possible.
According to Commini, NorCo would be the first county to offer pop-up voter services. Solicitor Michael Vargo and Commini both noted that Montgomery County uses a van as a satellite office for ballot by demand at different events.
