EASTON, Pa. — The Northampton County Election Commission met for the first time Tuesday since the Nov. 4 municipal election.
Along with county officials, they explained how the county dealt with a handful of voters who received the wrong mail-in ballots, broke down the results of a new satellite voting center, and called for updates to the county's home rule charter.
Overall, members praised Registrar Chris Commini, who leads the county elections office, and his staff for pulling off a smoothly run vote.
Commini said workers moved quickly last month when they discovered the wrong mail-in ballots went out to 50 voters in Easton’s 8th Ward. The ballots did not contain the correct candidates' names.
Officials decided to call and email every affected voter in an effort to solve the problem. If a voter did not respond, officials sent a new, corrected ballot and cancelled any ballots that had not yet been returned.
Of the 50 affected voters, 29 received and returned a replacement ballot. Another 14 returned their original ballot, which officials “counted accordingly,” Commini said, and three others voted in person instead.
The remaining four voters did not return a ballot at all.
“That was a good response to a difficult situation that was human error, not machine-related. You guys did a great job responding to it.”Margie DeRenzis, Northampton County Election Commission
Elections commission members noted Commini’s office worked quickly to try to resolve the issue.
“That was a good response to a difficult situation that was human error, not machine-related,” commissioner Margie DeRenzis said. “You guys did a great job responding to it.”
Satellite office trial
For the first time, county officials set up a satellite office in Bethlehem where residents could register to vote or request a mail-in ballot, just as they can at the government center in Easton.
A total of 44 people applied for and received mail-in ballots at the satellite office, Commini said, which they could then complete on site and deposit in a dropbox in the lobby.
“I think it was proof of concept that it can work,” Commini said. “If we continue it is another discussion, but as a proof of concept, it worked for what it was meant to do.”
By comparison, 457 people took advantage of ballot-on-demand voting at the county elections office in Easton.
Home rule charter
Tuesday’s hearing was the last before new election commission members are sworn in. The commission criticized the county’s home rule charter, which created the commission, as too vague, leaving officials to scrap over who has what powers.
For much of the last two years, members have butted heads with outgoing County Executive Lamont McClure over the commission’s role in overseeing elections.
As the commission sought a more active role in decision-making, McClure largely sidelined the body, arguing that his administration — not the commission — runs elections.
“It's taken me maybe this long to realize just how hamstringing that is to have an unclear position and unclear authority,” said commissioner Julia Geissinger, whose first term on the body will soon expire. “I think this is something we can look at in the home rule charter and maybe pave the way for the next people.”
To that end, members suggested that the commission should have its own attorney, independent of the county. Currently, when the commission needs legal advice, it turns to Assistant County Solicitor Michael Vargo; the solicitor’s office is ultimately overseen by the county executive.
Incoming county Executive Tara Zrinski will choose a new election commission from a slate of five nominees each from the Democratic and Republican parties.
No more than three can be from the same political party.
