Controversy and confusion have plagued the Luzerne County early voting process during this election season, as the county’s four early-vote drop boxes have been tied up in legal disputes for almost a month due to election security and public safety concerns. One of the four drop boxes is located in Passan Hall, and that puts the Misericordia University smack dab in the middle of the controversy.
The latest in the saga occurred during the Oct. 9 Luzerne County Board of Elections public meeting, which resulted in a decision to only have the two drop boxes located on county property be operational for the upcoming election. These drop boxes are located at Penn Place in Wilkes-Barre and the Broad Street Exchange in Hazelton. The two drop boxes on non-county owned property, one on campus and the other at Wright Manor assisted living facility, are currently inactive due to private entities having to secure the drop boxes on their own.
Dr. Maureen Pascal, who has used the Passan Hall drop box for every election since its inception in 2020, is no stranger to election security concerns. Dr. Pascal, who Professor of Physical Therapy, also serves as an election judge for the Luzerne County town of Swoyersville. The safety of election officials in Luzerne County is of particular concern for the upcoming election, so much so that the county sent Dr. Pascal a link to a panic button app in case there are any issues involving unruly voters, electioneers or poll watchers. This upcoming election is the first time Dr. Pascal has been issued a link to a panic button by the county.
Although public safety and election security concerns loom large for some, others, like Dr. Pascal, are not as concerned, “I have never needed the assistance of a constable or any other law enforcement on election day and [I] am not anticipating I will need to use the panic button. I guess we’ll see what happens,” she said. Dr Pascal also said she has never personally experienced or seen anyone else experience any safety issues or concerns in the past while using the Passan Hall drop box, “No. No. Never,” she said as she chuckled.
Dr. Pascal believes if there are any public safety concerns for the upcoming election, they are more likely to occur at on-site polling stations on election day rather than drop boxes, “Well, I can tell you from experience it’s definitely the on-site polls. That’s why they gave us an app to press a panic button,” she explained. Dr. Pascal plans to use the Passan Hall drop box for this upcoming election if it becomes operational before election day.
In an email exchange with The Highlander, Denise Williams, Luzerne County Board of Elections Chairwoman, said if Misericordia University met the criteria set forth by the Luzerne County Board of Elections and the recommendations by the Pennsylvania Department of State regarding election security, the drop box would become operational. Williams also clarified that the university would need to secure the drop box so that it cannot be moved or tampered with in any way, which would mean fastening the drop box to the ground, concrete or to another immovable object. Williams also stated that this criteria should met as soon as possible.
University officials said that while the university is a private entity with no expertise or official authority in the election process, it has provided support for the election. Officials say they have reached out to Luzerne County to clarify exactly what the University needs to do to secure the box so that it would comply with the security requirements without damaging the Passan Hall building. According to officials, the recently renovated lobby of Passan Hall is not conducive to drilling in the floors or the walls. Renovations occurred in 2023 due to flooding in 2023. Officials also say if an alternative to drilling the floor or walls of Passan Hall is presented by the county, the University will try to put it in place. However, officials also clarified to The Highlander that the alternative would need to be timely, appropriate and beneficial to the election process. The University did not receive a response from the county at the time of publication.
Luzerne County has previously made all four voting drop boxes available for elections since 2020, but Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo announced the drop boxes would be removed from their locations on Sept. 18, citing security concerns for the community and a lack of county resources to alleviate those concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union wrote a letter to Crocamo Sept. 24 and filed a lawsuit on behalf on Luzerne County voters Oct. 1.
On Oct. 3, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry wrote a letter to Crocamo explaining that the Luzerne County Board of Elections has jurisdiction over the county manager in this matter. The Attorney General also threatened civil and legal charges against Crocamo if she did not reverse her decision. In response to the letter, Crocamo reversed her decision and the lawsuit was dropped.
The Sept. 24 letter addressed to Crocamo was written by Marian K. Schneider, ACLU Senior Policy Counsel for Voting Rights, and it stated, “Your last-minute unilateral move and unsubstantiated public statements that the drop boxes are not secure elevates a false narrative about mail voting and sows distrust in election administration. It serves only to create chaos in the community.” The letter comes on the heels of unproven claims of election fraud by former President Donald Trump and other Republican officials before, during and after the 2020 presidential election.
Unsupported claims of election fraud has remained an issue for the upcoming election, so much so that the state of Pennsylvania has an entire section of their election and voting information website dedicated to fact checking Pennsylvania related election claims. The fact checking section states, “Voting by mail is safe and secure, and no evidence exists of widespread mail voting fraud in Pennsylvania. Mail ballot fraud has been proven to be exceptionally rare. Claims of systemic voter fraud are devoid of any supporting evidence and have consistently been rejected by judges, government agencies, and election experts across the political spectrum.” This section of the website also explains that Pennsylvanians have been voting by mail since the Civil War.
The election security and public safety concerns brought forth by Crocamo have been shared by other officials, including Luzerne County Board of Elections member Rick Morelli. Morelli, who is one of two Republicans on the five-person board, called for a vote on the drop box issue during the Oct. 9 meeting. Morelli proposed that all four drop boxes be removed and called the vote due to the same security concerns raised by Crocamo weeks prior. The board voted to keep the two drop boxes on county owned property by a vote of 3-2 along party lines.
Dr. Matthew Thornburg, Associate Professor of Political Science at Misericordia, believes that high voter turnout strengthens democracy, “Speaking as an American [and] speaking as a political scientist, I think turnout should be as high as it can be. The country benefits when we hear from as many people as possible,” he said. Thornburg, who is an election scholar with a specialization in voter turnout in primary elections, explained how the distance between a voter and the closest polling location effects turnout. “We know that the further you live from a polling place, the less likely you are to vote, so we can apply that logic to the drop boxes,” he said. Thornburg said he was disappointed in the initial decision that the drop boxes be removed. “I was concerned that it might negatively affect turnout, and I state that unequivocally based on research political scientists have done. We know small changes to election laws can have small effects on turnouts, so from that perspective I was a little bit concerned,” he explained.
Thornburg believes an advantage to using drop boxes instead of the United States Postal Service for mail-in ballots is its efficiency. “Pennsylvania requires they receive the ballot by election day at 8 p.m., so if you put your ballot in the mail on Nov. 4, it’s probably not going to get there. People have a tendency to procrastinate, that’s human nature. Drop boxes can be a way to make sure you get the ballot in,” he said.
Pascal echoed the same sentiment. “If you mail [a ballot] in, they need to receive it the day of the election. You can technically drop [a ballot] at a drop box until 8 o’clock the day of the election,” she explained.
Dr. Pascal feels it is especially important for the drop box to be operational for students and faculty who live nearby and the Dallas community. “I do think it’s important. The closest one after [Passan Hall] is Wilkes-Barre, so if you don’t drive, or even if you do drive but aren’t in the area, that’s a decent drive. So, it’s out of your way if you want to use a drop box,” she said. Dr. Pascal also believes it is more convenient for Misericordia students, particularly those without cars, to use the drop box at Passan Hall.
Dr. Pascal is hopeful that the drop box will be operational before the election and that Misericordia will do everything possible to make that happen. “I really hope [university officials] can find a way to secure it. I think it’s a really important service to the community and students, but I will really emphasize the community because a lot of people in the community used it. If it comes out that the reason why we aren’t doing it is because [officials] didn’t want to do something, I think that speaks poorly about [Misericordia],” she said.
Student Matthew Albrecht, mass communications and design major and President of the Misericordia Democrats club, believes the drop box at Passan Hall should be operational, “We will always support something that makes voting more accessible. We still want our elections to be safe and secure, but we want it as accessible [as possible] for people to vote,” he explained. Albrecht also believes that it is particularly unfortunate and relevant to the controversy that a voting drop box on a college campus is no longer in use. “Luzerne and Lackawanna counties are overwhelmingly filled with colleges. Getting college kids to vote, especially in Pennsylvania, which is one of the biggest swing states, is absolutely critical.”
According to Albrecht, many students may be impacted by the drop box not being operational, “Everyone who lives off campus and has an off-campus address, their polling place might be out of the bounds of the precinct Misericordia is in, so all of those people need somewhere to go if they can’t vote on election day.” Students who live on campus that have an official campus address can vote on election day at the Anderson Sports Health and Fitness Center, which will be an official polling place for the 2024 election, as it has been for previous elections.
Albrecht agrees with both the ACLU’s lawsuit and their letter to Crocamo. He also believes that this could be case of voter suppression, “Voter suppression is a very common practice among the Republican party. When turnout is high, Democrats win across any electorate you want to look at,” he said. Albrecht went on to explain that when voting turnout was high in 2020 and 2022, “Democrats won up and down the ballots,” but when it was much lower in 2016, the opposite was the case.
The Highlander reached out to the College Republicans for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Albrecht said he is concerned that the County’s actions will reduce voter turnout, “I am not going to accuse Luzerne County of being partisan, although they have been in the past, but I am not going to say they are right now. However, making extreme requirements, like drilling into private entities’ concrete floors, it’s method of voter suppression. It’s moving the goal posts further and further.”
Regarding Misericordia’s role in the controversy, Albrecht would like the university to do whatever it can to make the drop box operational, but he also empathizes with the awkward position the county is putting the University in. “People who are trying to discriminate, [or] voter suppress, will always try to move the finish line and then claim the runners aren’t strong enough to finish,” he claimed. Albrecht also feels county officials have far more accountability in the drop box not being operational than the university does. “How far [does Misericordia] run down this hill? How far do they continuously go to get this done if the County is going to keep making changes to make it more difficult? How far is reasonable? If someone is going to point a moral finger, it should be pointed at the county,” he said.