Luzerne County manager makes election statement

As Luzerne County prepares for the landmark Nov. 5 general election, county Manager Romilda Crocamo told council she wants to make a public statement.

The subject came up during last week’s work session because Councilman Harry Haas asked what response, if any, should be given to a Dallas Township man who wrote a letter questioning if there are vulnerabilities in the county’s voting system. Haas said he realizes answers have been provided on the subject in the past and that he welcomed input from Crocamo.

“We’ve had the District Attorney come in and review our electronic ballot marking devices, and there is nothing,” Crocamo said in part of her statement.

The county’s electronic ballot marking devices and other equipment had been sequestered after the May 2021 primary due to an investigation by the DA’s Office. County DA Sam Sanguedolce informed the county in September 2021 the machines were cleared for use in that year’s general election.

The county’s equipment from Dominion Voting Systems Inc. came under fire in the 2021 primary when headers of Republican ballots on the electronic devices at polling places were incorrectly labeled as Democratic ones — a problem blamed on a ballot programming typographical mistake at Dominion that was not detected by the county. The county implemented post-programming testing of the header in response.

Sanguedolce had said his office witnessed a full demonstration of all equipment.

“In reviewing complaints, we had no indication that the equipment itself was flawed,” Sanguedolce had said at that time.

With the Dominion system, voters make selections on electronic ballot marking devices, which generate a ballot printout that must be reviewed by voters and then fed into a scanner/tabulator for votes to be cast.

A council majority had approved the $3.6 million purchase of the Dominion system in December 2019. Counties had to comply with a state mandate requiring a system that provides a paper trail — in this case the ballot printout — that can be checked by voters before they cast their ballots and kept by counties for auditing purposes.

County officials have stressed the Dominion system was extensively tested by the state before its certification for use by counties and that Dominion components are standalone and not connected to the internet.

“Very zealous”

In her statement, Crocamo said the election bureau “is on top of all those issues” and conducts public “logic and accuracy testing” of the ballot marking devices and other system equipment before each election.

“We are very zealous in our safety for this election, as we were in the last general election,” Crocamo told council. “I am confident in our bureau.”

Crocamo asked council members to discourage unnecessary interruption of the election bureau’s work as it enters the final phase preparing for the general, adding the bureau’s attention should not be “diverted for issues that we have addressed.”

Visibly working to maintain her composure, Crocamo added this: “If people want to continue to raise the banner that Luzerne County elections are not transparent and are not fair, you come to me. You say it directly to me because they are. And if you continue to entertain this you are undermining your own county.”

Crocamo said the bureau — under the leadership of Director Emily Cook and Deputy Director Steve Hahn — has implemented protocols and checks and balances to keep preparations on track and ensure accuracy. She noted Cook and Hahn were at a state conference for election directors, and a state election expert who was among the conference speakers asked Cook to stand up in recognition of her work transforming the bureau.

”We have nothing to hide. Our elections are pristine,” Crocamo said.

After verifying no other colleagues wanted to weigh in during the work session, Council Chairman John Lombardo offered kudos for Cook’s recognition and said he looks forward to a great election.

Lombardo said it is important for the bureau, administration and county’s five-citizen election board to work together.

“The work of the bureau is not easy, and we certainly don’t want to make it any harder as council,” Lombardo said.

Cook confident

Contacted after the work session, Cook said she will soon start publicly releasing a lengthy list of election tasks that must be completed, the deadlines and which workers are performing them, with weekly status updates.

“We have procedures in place to cover every scenario. We also have a primary and back-up for every task we’re doing so no one person is reviewing them,” Cook said.

Cook also noted the entire bureau is working together to prepare and said she doesn’t want people to think she informed Crocamo about the conference praise. A colleague had alerted Crocamo.

“I’m not looking for accolades,” Cook said.