Zrinski Addresses NorCo Primary Election Failures

On Wednesday, I posted a story about NorCo Elections Comm'n meeting the previous day during which nine people (Republicans and elections workers) expressed dissatisfaction with the way the county handled May's primary. Before that meeting ever happened, there were already indications that some things were amiss. Elections Registrar Chirs Commini honestly admitted that some voters who requested mail-in ballots received them, but for the wrong party. He also acknowledged that, just like the last election cycle, some voters received the wrong ballots. 

At the post-election meeting, it became clear that redistricting created issues in which some people running for state committee no longer lived in the voting district while others who did inexplicably never appeared on the ballot. There was an even more serious problem when it was discovered that epollbooks (used to check in voters) were never updated. This means that voters who had voted by mail could also cast a vote in person. Thankfully, nobody tried, but an important safeguard designed to ensure that each person votes only once, was missing. This hardly inspires public confidence. Finally, there were the usual training errors that, to be honest, are bound to happen no matter how hard you try to prevent them. Some people who work elections only two days a year are just going to make mistakes even though former Elections Registrar Amy Cozze prepared a thick binder for elections judges with the "dos" and "don'ts" on election day. Unfortunately, thanks to 30-second videos on Tik Tok and Youtube, we now have the attention spans of a housefly. 

These problems, as I told you, prompted Republican Elections Comm'rs to move to suspend pop-up elections for the remainder of 2026 on the theory that we are simply tasking elections officials with too much. They are statutorily required to run three elections (Mail-in ballots, ballot-on demand and in-person). Before shackling them with a fourth election, why not wait until they can pull off an election without any major issues like one in which voters could easily have voted twice? Democrats disagreed, and they outnumbered the Republicans. 

Administrator Mark Aurand told the Elections Comm'rs that there was no proof that conducting four pop-up elections or that sending two people to man a satellite office for four weeks to get a measly two votes directly caused the problems that occurred. That's true, but it's certainly a fair inference.  

Executive Tara Zrinski had previously told County Council it was a "smooth" election. To her credit, she has now acknowledged the process problems at last night's meeting of NorCo Council. Though she at one point minimized them as "very few and minor hiccups," she did indicate that her office would be conducting an after-action review to determine what went right and what went wrong. 

This year, we redistricted and changed several polling locations. And although party chairs were informed, as we proceeded with the approval from the state, the Northampton Republican Party chose to sue over the registering, and therefore delayed the process. ... And the Commonwealth Court approved our districts in February, February 4th, to be exact. So I want to emphasize that redistricting in a non-residential cycle when turnout is expected to be low in a non-contentious primary. Are the optimal conditions to troubleshoot and work out income kings.

This was not the way the Elections Commission saw, the very few and minor hiccups that occurred on the 19th. An elections commission meeting was held earlier this week, and complaints were brought to the commission regarding the recent primary elections, and they will be addressed. ... 

No votes were counted twice, even if cast, because of the safeguards placed, or in place to ensure that everyone only gets one vote. Nonetheless, the commission is expected to certify the election results next week.

And for the administration, again, I want to emphasize that the primary election was conducted in a manner that was free, fair, secure and accurate. And while there were concerns raised, as there always are, in a large scale public process, we take those seriously and we continue to refine our procedures. Our elections office is already focused on improvements for fall. Over the next few months, priorities of the election office will include re-examining procedures to add quality assurance steps.

Re-evaluating several of the new polling places, getting the new electronic poll books up and running, and the office also plans to hold a post event analysis of the primary election. De collections success days that went well and basically not go well.

And the goal will be to enhance procedures for the general election in the fall.

It's true that nobody voted twice, which would be a felony. But this would not have been caught until after the election and unofficial votes were tabulated. Safeguards need to prevent that from happening at all. It is, however, encouraging that Zrinski has listened to what these people had to say and will tryo to minimize future errors. 

Whether she knows it or not, however, she made one announcement that betrays a complete misunderstanding of the Elections Commission's role. It exists to administer elections, both under the express language of the Home Rule Charter and the Elections Code. Yet the administration has taken it upon itself to purchase new epollbooks without bothering to ask the Elections Comm'n first. 

In Northampton County, the Elections Comm'n has been relegated to a perfunctory body whose sole purpose is to simply certify elections. That needs to change. 

It's understandable that things have gone in this direction. Though the elections commission is required to administer elections, it is not a salary board and has no authority to set salaries. It lacks the power of the purse, which should be jealously guarded by county council. Moreover, these officials are unelected and, though they deserve our respect and gratitude for the time they spend, they should have no say in how we spend our money. 

That is why Northampton County's Elections Commission, like the Board of Elections in counties that operate under the county code. should consist of County Council members and the Executive. During years in which the at-large members and Executive are running for election, they should be replaced by the four district Council members and a voter selected by the court to insure minority representation. If the at-large Council members and Exec all belong to the same party, the courts can pick a representative from a minority party. 

I believe this approach will fulfill both the spirit and letter of the Elections Code. It will require a change to the Home Rule Charter. I will come up with a proposal next week, and will also tell you what elese happened during a brief but interesting meeting.

NorCo Seeking Parking Alternatives For Employees While New Parking Deck Is Under Construction

At tonight's meeting, Northampton County Council will consider a $1,250 license agreement with Shiloh Baptist Church for 150 parking spaces during the 18 months it will take to raze and build a new parking deck at the courthouse campus. This parking deck is on Easton's south side, so a shuttle will also be needed to ferry employees and jurors from there to the courthouse. 

The county has also requested Easton to expand the maximum time for metered spots around he courthouse from three to 10 hours. 

When the parking deck was repaired in the past, the county rented a parking lot from nearby St Anthony's Church, which is only about two blocks away and would require no shuttle. It would make sense to consider entering into a lease agreement with St. Anthony. In addition, this shuttle should also stop at the Easton parking garages, which are never full on weekdays. The county should probably also consider a lease arrangement with Easton for some parking spots. 

NorCo Elections Comm'n Votes 3-2 To Continue Pop-Up Voting Despite Elections Failures

At Northampton County Council's May 21 meeting, Executive Tara Zrinski reported that the Spring Primary went "smoothly," In reality, there were a number of problems. Before the election, some voters received ballots for the wrong party while others actually received duplicate ballots. As a result of redistricting, some party committee members were incorrectly listed in the wrong district while others were completely omitted. And on election day, epollbooks showed that voters were eligible to vote in person even though they had previously sent in mail-in-ballots (MIBs). These kinds of errors undermine public confidence in the elections process and need to be addressed. Northampton County's Elections Comm'n, however, is going to continue doing exactly what is causing this problem by requiring elections workers to do too much. 

The Elections office is already statutorily tasked with conducting what amounts to three elections every cycle.  There's in-person voting at the polling place, mail-in ballots and ballot-by demand. Last year, the county also decided to add a satellite office on Bethlehem's south side for four weeks so that people could either apply for MIBs or vote ballot by demand. Two people had been diverted from their usual duties to make it easier for people to vote. "That was not well attended," admitted Voter Registrar Chris Commini.

In addition to the satellite office, the county decided this year to stage "pop up" elections at Lafayette College (31 votes) Northampton Community College (3 votes), Upper Mt Bethel Tp Municipal Building (handful) and Lower Saucon (handful. To run these four pop-up events, elections workers had to be diverted from their usual duties. 

I understand and fully appreciate the importance of engaging as many voters as possible. But before conducting pop-ip elections or establishing satellite offices, county officials should be able to demonstrate that they con conduct the elections they are statutorily required to conduct with ease. Based on the past few elections, it's pretty clear that they need to focus on what they are required by law to do before branching out. 

At yesterday's meeting of the elections commission, nine people (elections judges and Republican party members voiced their concerns. What they had to say was summed up best by Matt Flower, who said that the elections failures fell into three categories - redistricting failures, training failures, and election system failures.

Redistricting failures. "Election registrar Chris Commini testified 4 times that no elected office would be impacted by redistricting.After the petition circulation period had already begun, they issued an email acknowledging that elected offices had in fact been affected. The consequences were real.In Upper Nazareth Township and Forks Township, both municipalities affected by redistricting, candidates appeared on the ballot in precincts, where they did not reside and were omitted from precincts, where they were legally eligible to hold office. In other cases, elected officials had their positions extinguished with no individualized notice.

Training failures. "In Wind Gap, poll workers were observed allowing voters to choose either party's primary ballot regardless of voter registration status. This procedural defect allows members of opposing parties to influence each other's primary elections. In Bath, the judge of elections was observed instructing that individuals who already voted would not be permitted back into the voting area, and that it did not matter whether they possessed valid poll watcher credentials. A clear violation of election law.

Election system failures. "Electronic poll books were not updated before the polls opened to identify voters who had already cast mail-in ballots. As a result, voters who already voted by mail could still appear eligible to vote at the polls, and the primary safeguard against duplicate voting was not functioning for a substantial portion of the election day.

These are not isolated mistakes. They are part of a pattern. Election integrity is measured by execution. Accurate ballots, accurate poll books, properly trained election workers. These are the core functions of election administration. When election administration failures become recurring events as they have in Northampton County, public confidence begins to erode. ... The voters of Northampton County are not asking for perfection. We are asking for competence.

Based on these issues, GOP Comm'n members Scott Hough and Shawn Welch suggested that the county suspend any pop-up elections in November. But they were outvoted by Democratic Commission members Sharon Gavin-Levy, Richard Groff and Becky Bartlett. Groff said the county could simply hire more people to help run elections, but the reality is that it takes several cycles for a temp or even a full-time worker to understand the system. 

I understand why the Democrats voted as they did. But I believe the county should focus on doing what the law mandates before getting into things that would be nice to see. In November, when turnout is going to be much higher, these mistakes are going to grow. 

Our Mental Health Crisis

When Governor Ed Rendell decided it was a good idea to shutter most of our state hospitals in 2010, he unwittingly unleashed a Mongol horde of seriously ill people into the Lehigh Valley and rest of the state.  State funding was set aside to house some, but not enough, of them. As a result, homeless encampments have exploded for some. Others have found homes in our jails. Still more have ended up at Gracedale. In the meantime, Northampton County has just 13 beds at Wernersville State Hospital for the sickest of the sick. So what is county government doing to deal with those who suffer from mental illness? Cathy Kromer, Deputy Administrator of NorCo Mental Health Division, told County Council last month that her department is doing what it can, even though it may seem like little more than a finger in the dike to stop a flood of seriously mentally ill people from cascading into our community. 

Kromer started by noting a distinction between those with general mental health concerns (we're all a little nuts) and those with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. She indicated that approximately one in five people have a diagnosable mental illness, but funding limitations requires Northampton County Mental Health to focus on those with serious mental illness and those requiring intensive support.

She explained that most health services are funded through Medical Assistance (Medicaid). County mental health funding primarily supports the uninsured, underinsured, intensive services, residential treatment programs, psychosocial rehabilitation programs, drop-in centers and advocacy organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness. (NAMI)

She highlighted the importance of Community Hospital Integration Project (CHIP) funding, clarifying that this is not the children's health insurance program. Rather, CHIP funding was established when Pennsylvania began closing state hospital beds. The state's commitment was that funding saved from institutional care would be redirected to counties to support individuals transitioning into community-based treatment settings.

Despite operating with an annual budget of approximately $13 million, Northampton County Mental Health serves thousands of residents annually and receives a constant flow of referrals.

In Fiscal Year 23-4, her department did an intake 0f 1,341 individuals, 80% of whom have serious mental illness. In Fiscal Year 24-25, the intake was 1,078 people. From July through December of 2025, her department did an intake for 985 people. 

Council member Lori Vargo Heffner asked Kromer to provide a list of funding gaps that resulted from last year's state budget impasse and to provide an idea of what cuts are expected this year. 

I'll say this, based on both my own experience as well as studies. I know a number of seriously mentally ill people. This includes a lady who decides to start shouting a cursing around 11 pm every night. While she might be a tad annoying, she's harmless. Mental illness only accounts for 3-5% of violent crime. Those who suffer from mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violent crime.  

Having said that, it was a mistake to close most state hospitals. 

Zrinski "Continuum of Care" Department Hints at Using Gracedale Campus For Assisted Living

In a close, 5-4 vote at NorCo Council's May 7 meeting, Executive Tara Zrinski's request for a completely brand new county department was granted. Supporting her were Council President Ken Kraft, joined by members Kelly Keegan, Jeff Warren, Theresa Fadem and Jason Boulette. Opposed were Lori Vargo Heffner, Dave Holland Nadeem Qayyum and Tom Giovanni.  Though a two-man Continuum of Care Department was created, which will costing $250,000 a year in salaries alone, a resolution approving the two positions was tabled. 

Zrinski argued that a separate department is needed to manage am 1,300-person workforce. More importantly, and in an opaque hint at her long-range plan, Zrinski said a separate department is needed "to coordinate the full continuum - nursing care, supportive living, and a future campus-based development reflecting the needs of the continuum of care across these 364 acres upon which Gracedale occupies." This suggests, at least to me, that the county is considering using some of its vast Gracedale campus to provide housing for seniors across the entire continuum of care spectrum.

This is certainly a much better idea than giving an out-of-town developer a tax break for luxury apartments. It would provide affordable housing to some of the county's most vulnerable residents. The county already owns the land but would need to borrow to build more housing. Like the county has done in the past for both open space and even keeping Gracedale, a question like this could be put to the voters.

So even though this creates a new layer of bureaucracy, I support the establishment of this new department. What I dislike about the positions, however, is that they are what the county calls "exempt" positions. This means that they are political hires who come and go with the Executive. 

For the first five months of this year, Zrinski has been unable to find a Director of Fiscal Affairs, a position sorely needed in a county with financial challenges. She has attributed this to a rather low salary, although she claims to have found one. I think the real challenge is that it's hard to attract a financial professional who is willing to tie his employment to the political winds.  

This department, like Emergency Management, should be completely apolitical so that it attracts people who have the right expertise and who are willing to make it a career.