Say Unlawful Action Discriminates Against Seniors, Voters with Disabilities, Home-bound by Illness, Work Commitments

Wilkes-Barre, PA -- Democratic Party officials say the Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo had no legal authority to remove the county’s ballot drop boxes for the November election, and only the Luzerne County Board of Elections and Registration has authority over drop boxes.

That’s the stern warning in a letter emailed Friday night to the Luzerne Co. Chief Solicitor Harry Skene and Assistant Co. Solicitor Gene Molino by attorneys representing the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (The letter is available upon request by emailing [email protected].)

“Drop boxes serve a critical role in safeguarding the right to vote,” said Pennsylvania Party Chairman Senator Sharif Street (3rd Senate District/Philadelphia County). “The county manager’s unlawful removal of the drop boxes for absentee and mail-in ballots for meritless safety and security concerns discriminates against seniors, voters with disabilities, home-bound by illness, and work commitments who have used them for the last four years without incident. The fact that she has responded to criticism by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and 26 other groups by calling for Attorney General Michelle Henry to investigate her decision is a tacit admission she overstepped her authority.”

“Republicans in Luzerne County have praised Crocamo’s unilateral decision and the counsel for the Republican National Committee reportedly sent the solicitor’s office a letter on September 6 specifically requesting that the county stop using drop boxes for this election,” said Chairman Street. “That follows the standard Republican playbook of eliminating drop boxes to suppress the right to vote in Pennsylvania and across the country.”

“The county manager has no legitimate legal basis to determine whether the county will use ballot drop boxes,” said Street. “Under both Pennsylvania law and the Luzerne County Home Rule Charter, the Board of Elections and Registration alone carries the full responsibility and authority to determine this issue for the upcoming general election. To ensure a fair election, the Board can and should proceed as planned with four drop boxes for the 2024 election.”

Pennsylvania does not offer early voting, but counties may make absentee and mail-in ballot applications available to voters in person up to 50 days before Election Day,

There are many reasons why a person may prefer—or rely on—drop boxes to vote. Some voters prefer to deliver their mail ballots to a drop box rather than sending them back through the mail. These voters may be motivated by lack of trust in the postal process, fear that their ballot could be tampered with, or concern that their signature will be exposed. Voters may also be concerned about meeting the postmark deadline and ensuring that their ballot is returned in time to be counted. The availability of ballot drop boxes and drop-off locations ensures that even voters who wait until the last minute to vote or who receive their requested ballot in the mail at the last minute will be able to return their ballots in time to be counted.

According to a bipartisan review of Luzerne County video footage of the four drop boxes located at Wright Manor in Mountain Top, Misericordia University in Dallas, Broad Street Business Exchange in Hazleton, and the Penn Place county building in downtown Wilkes-Barre. from the November 2022 general election, “No voter revisits to the boxes or obvious fraud were witnessed.”

Across 13,000 estimated drop box locations active nationwide, there were incidents reported at only 0.1% of them—with only six total instances reported across all of Pennsylvania, none of which involved firearms or violence.