WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Three residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania county filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to overturn a local official’s announcement that she will prevent all four drop boxes from being deployed for use by those who vote by mail and absentee in the election of November 5.
The Luzerne County lawsuit states that County Manager Romilda Crocamo has no authority for statements made last month that the county would not use mailboxes “due to alleged safety and security concerns.” Drop boxes are used to deliver completed ballots to those who do not wish to mail ballots.
The voters who filed a lawsuit said the Luzerne County Board of Elections and Registration plans to use four drop boxes, as it has done in other recent elections. The board rejected a proposal in February to eliminate all drop boxes, according to their lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses Crocamo of violating state election law and claims its policies “will result in irreparable harm to voting rights” in Luzerne. Prosecutors want a district judge to block Crocamo from enforcing her decision.
In an email seeking comment, Crocamo wrote Tuesday: “I do not intervene in public comments during litigation.” Messages seeking comment were left with two of the five members of the Elections and Registration Board, which is also a suspect in the case.
Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement that Crocamo had no authority for what he called an “end run around the board of voting” decision to provide Luzerne County voters with a safe and convenient option to vote by mail. , and we hope that the court will quickly restore the four mailboxes.”
The voters and the nonprofit In This Together NEPA Inc., which is also a plaintiff, argued that there have been no substantiated cases of mailbox abuse or fraud in Luzerne County. They said the drop boxes were being monitored with a camera.
The Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre reported Tuesday that Crocamo has said she does have the authority — as part of her duty to oversee the county’s workforce and property safety.