Two options for a Hazleton mail ballot drop box conditionally approved

Two options for a Hazleton mail ballot drop box were conditionally approved for the Nov. 8 general election — at the Luzerne County Community College campus in the city’s downtown or the Hazleton One Community Center on East Fourth Street.

A county Election Board majority granted approval for both possibilities Wednesday pending verification all conditions are met. The chosen site would have to comply with video surveillance parameters and other requirements in a memorandum of understanding with the county, board members said.

If both options are viable, preference will go to the community college because it is downtown.

Under a surveillance plan recently approved by the election board, drop box sites must provide video recordings for the entire period a drop box is in use on a USB-based backup device supplied by the election bureau so they can be stored by the county. Previously, the county requested copies of the recordings as needed for investigative purposes.

Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams said the community college Hazleton campus director was working with the college information technology department to determine if its surveillance system complies with board-approved protocols.

The community college leases space in the county-owned Broad Street Exchange Building on Broad Street. The county accepted ownership of the building in 2009 from a tax-delinquent nonprofit so the county would not lose its claim on $1.8 million in loans that had been provided to the nonprofit.

Operated by the Hazleton Integration Project, the Hazleton One Community Center provides educational, cultural and athletic activities for economically underserved children and families. County council members highlighted the center several years ago by holding an on-the-road council meeting there.

Williams said the Hazleton One center’s leadership is interested in hosting a drop box and believes its surveillance system will comply, but approval from its board of directors will be required.

A mailbox-style drop box cannot be set up inside Hazleton City Hall as usual for the upcoming general because city officials wanted to move the box to a part of the building that is not under city video surveillance, the election board learned the day of its regular meeting last week last week.

Election Board members Williams, Danny Schramm and Audrey Serniak supported either new Hazleton site during Wednesday’s special meeting.

Alyssa Fusaro, one of two Republicans on the board, voted against accepting a replacement site and reiterated she is adamantly against any drop boxes, existing or new.

Board Vice Chairman Jim Mangan, the other Republican, abstained, saying he does not like to cast votes contingent on conditions being met.

At the opening of the meeting, Williams said scrambling was necessary because the board was informed Wednesday morning that the Sugarloaf Township police department had withdrawn its agreement to host a box, even though it had submitted a signed memorandum of understanding.

County Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora told the board in an email Wednesday that the township police chief has been “inundated with calls and complaints” about the drop box plan.

Contacted Wednesday, Sugarloaf Township Police Chief Joshua Winters said he got involved in responding to the county’s request for a drop box because it would have been located in the police station building, which has security surveillance.

Winters did not blame complaints for the withdrawal. He said he ultimately decided against the box because he was concerned there would be a glitch or some other problem with the surveillance, unnecessarily casting the township in a negative light if footage was needed and not available for a particular period.

“That’s a lot of footage. That was a factor on my end,” Winters said.

Winters also acknowledged some concerns were raised by township supervisors.

Sugarloaf Township supervisors may end up voting next month on a drop box ban for the municipality, similar to one enacted earlier this year in Butler Township, according to other officials.

Williams said after Wednesday’s election board meeting she sees a pattern.

“There’s a small and very vocal group that would like to see the ballot drop boxes banned, and I question their motivation,” she said.

In addition to potential continuance of a Hazleton box, the county will have drop boxes inside the county-owned Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre and the Pittston Memorial Library, the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department and Misericordia University in the Back Mountain.

The election bureau is aiming to set up boxes around Oct. 14, which is the target date to send out requested mail ballots.

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