WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — New Luzerne County Manager Randy Robertson is addressing another change to the county's elections office. Last December, the county hired Michael Susek as director of elections, but last week he submitted his resignation.
It's the second resignation from the position in less than a year. Bob Morgan left his post as election head last September.
"There are challenges in the election system, and 50% of the people don't like what you do, and 50% of the people do like what you do," Robertson said. "My hypothesis is, to a large extent, some of the turnover is [due to] the challenges we're seeing on the electoral process."
Robertson said the frequent changes may also be the result of salary constraints. The latest change comes just a few months ahead of the general elections. Robertson remains confident in elections staff.
"I'm seeing a tremendously diligent core staff who have been trained and have done it before. They will provide flawless service," he said. "Will some try to pick at 'we should've done this' or 'we could've done that?' There's no question in my mind. Will it be a fatal flaw? Absolutely not."
The search for a new director of elections has already begun. Robertson said the job will be posted for more than a month, and the county will do what's necessary to find the right candidate.
"If we don't have the best that we think is available that we can get for this county, then we'll continue to work as we best can in-house, and we'll get by," he said. "We'll figure it out."
Polls open for the general election on November 8.
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