LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt and Luzerne County officials toured the storage facility in Wilkes-Barre holding the county's election machines roughly a month before primary election day.
“Elections have changed so much in the past few years, and it's no wonder people have so many questions,” said Schmidt.
The visit offered county workers and the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections officials the chance to ask questions that would help avoid issues that have plagued the county in the past.
During the general election in November of 2022, several polling places throughout Luzerne County ran out of ballot paper.
The paper problems struck again in May 2023 when a polling location in Hunlock Township temporarily ran out of paper ballots.
“It's important to listen to our counties,” said Schmidt. “To hear about the challenges they face and how the Department of State can be of assistance.”
The debacle known as the paper gate wasn't the county's only issue.
Just last month, Eryn Harvey, the director of the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections, resigned. Harvey was the county's fifth director since 2019.
Now Luzerne County Manger Romilda Crocamo wants to assure voters the county is working hard to make sure when election day arrives, everyone's votes will count.
“You have to prepare for an election,” said Crocamo. “It's not just one day. It's months you have to prepare.”
“And doing our job, the best way to combat misinformation and disinformation is, to tell the truth, to tell the truth, all the time when it comes to elections and elections administration, and that's part of, I think, giving voters confidence,” said Schmidt.
The acting Director of Luzerne County Elections, Emily Cook, says her years of experience in the bureau and the relationships with other county departments will make for a smooth primary election day.
“I'm not alone, you're not alone. We are all in this together,” said Cook. “We are all working to make sure this elections works smooth and well.”
“There's no do-over when it comes to elections; there's no redo's when it comes to elections. Everything has to be just right,” said Schmidt.
Newly redesigned mail-in ballots for the primary election will ship out to Luzerne County voters sometime next week.