Luzerne County controller questions special election reimbursement oversight

Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith said he discovered the county election bureau never obtained $109,602 in state reimbursement for costs associated with last year’s April 5 special election to fill a state representative seat that had been vacated by Tarah Toohil.

Griffith emphasized the failure to secure funds owed to the county occurred before current Acting Election Director Beth McBride’s tenure.

County Acting Manager Brian Swetz said McBride submitted the required reimbursement paperwork on Thursday.

“I’d like to thank the controller for bringing it to our attention,” Swetz said.

McBride said she had reached out to the state on an unrelated issue Wednesday and was informed the county never sought reimbursement for the special election.

Using a reimbursement form from the state, McBride compiled the necessary documentation of county expenses and submitted it to Griffith for his required review and signature. At that time, Griffith informed her a reimbursement request already had been reviewed and signed by his office and members of the county election board in July.

McBride said she does not know if the original form failed to reach the state because it was never sent or due to a transmission issue. Prior county election director Michael Susek, who resigned last August, could not be immediately reached for clarification.

McBride does not anticipate any problems securing the state reimbursement, saying the state informed her the form should be submitted immediately but that no deadline had been missed.

She said the bureau is tracking all expenses related to the upcoming Jan. 31 special election to replace former state Sen. John Gordner, and a reimbursement request will be promptly submitted to the state.

Griffith said the 2022 special election reimbursement failure illustrates the need for more ownership and follow-up on specific tasks. He fired off an email to county officials Wednesday evening saying this “appears to be another ‘oops’ moment.”

“My concern is that nobody was paying attention to the fact that we never received the funding,” Griffith said Thursday. “At the end of the day the county probably wouldn’t have caught it if the state was not watching.”

The $109,602 in reimbursement covered special election expenses for poll workers, ballot printing, postage, the deployment of election equipment, rental of polling places and supplies.

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