Lebanon County Commissioners on Thursday, Feb. 7, adopted by a 2-1 vote a new drive-by drop box, to be staffed by a county employee, at the county building for mail-in ballots.
A manned temporary shelter will be placed along the parking lot located at the south side of the rear entrance to the county building on 8th Street, Lebanon, to gather voter mail-in ballots from those who drive-by or walk-up to deliver theirs to the individual staffing it.
All three commissioners voted at one point during the meeting to establish the drop box location, with a total of three votes taking place over different proposals for a start date and the number of individuals needed to staff the drop off location.
After the commissioners debated extensively about a start date and the number of individuals needed to staff the drop box, they eventually decided to accept mail-in ballots beginning Monday, April 1, during normal county municipal hours through the primary election on Tuesday, April 23.
Ultimately it was decided that one person – either a current county employee or a county poll worker – will staff the booth starting that date. The approval vote permits a poll worker to be compensated $120 per day to staff the drop box location for a full shift.
The commissioners also agreed to a one-time expense of $2,725 to purchase a custom-built shed from Myerstown Shed to provide shelter from the elements while the drop box is open for business. The shelter will include an awning to protect workers from rain and help prevent ballots from getting wet while being delivered.
Sean Drasher, county elections director, said the cost for the structure and staffing will be covered under the Election Integrity Grant fund, which is funding provided by Pennsylvania to local municipalities to support the administration of elections.
The first vote on the drop box proposal was made on a motion by commissioner Jo Ellen Litz (D), who said she believes it should be operational beginning on Monday, March 25 and be staffed with two individuals, noting that the two individuals should represent both the Democratic and Republican parties. (Litz later amended that statement to say an Independent voter could be one of the two on duty.)
Litz requested that date because it is potentially the earliest that mail-in ballots may be delivered to the courthouse. Drasher said a lawsuit in state court that is expected to go to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has put election officials in all 67 Pennsylvania counties in a holding pattern for ballot approval and mail-in ballot distribution to voters.
Read More: High-stakes court battles loom over Pennsylvania’s election laws
Litz made a motion to purchase the shed and for two individuals to staff it beginning March 25, but commissioners Mike Kuhn (R) and Bob Phillips (R) voted against it.
During the discussion about a start date, Phillips said he wanted it to be available from Monday, April 15 for a total of seven days, which would include Election Day on Tuesday, April 23.
Kuhn made a motion to purchase the booth and for it to be manned with one person beginning April 15. His motion included the stipulation that a second individual could possibly be added at a later date. That vote passed 2-1, with Kuhn and Phillips approving it and Litz voting no.
During public comment that followed that vote, Pat Steely of South Londonderry Township said she was disappointed with the negotiations on the start date for the new drop box.
“It seems to me that it would have been a really nice compromise to start early and (with) one person, April 1,” said Steely, which drew applause from some members of the capacity crowd. “I’m very disappointed. I don’t feel you’re giving people enough time. I would ask you to do an amendment for one person (manning it) to April 1st.”
Litz then made a new motion to establish the date of April 1 and agreed to one person manning it, adding she wants to have a discussion at a future date about adding a second individual. Prior to the vote, Phillips expressed concerns about the cost associated with changing the date, noting it could cost up to $600 per week if staffed the entire time by a poll worker.
“My dates were based on some of the responsibility to be shared by the person that chose to go with mail ballot,” said Phillips. “Yes, it’s squeezing the opportunity for accommodating that but I felt they should also participate in either the cost part of it or just working on rescheduling to meet the new deadline. That’s why I was pretty steadfast on the dates.”
In a final vote on the drop box proposal, Kuhn and Litz voted to approve the April 1 date and one staffer, while Phillips voted against the measure.
Although not yet official, it is believed that the new drop box – which is being considered an extension of the election department’s office – will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, the same hours as polling precincts.
The new drop box replaces the mailbox-style box that had been used for the seven previous elections.
At their Jan. 18 meeting, commissioners voted to end use of the drop box at the entrance to the courthouse. Phillips and Kuhn cited security concerns, while Litz wanted to keep it, stating there hadn’t been any issues with it.
In the days following the meeting, Kuhn told LebTown that he would support a more secure drop box system for voters to use.
At their Feb. 15 meeting, commissioners had voted to affirm their Jan. 18 removal decision since legal questions had arisen over the previous month about that action. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a complaint with the county stating that commissioners had not properly advertised the drop-box discussion as required by Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.
No excuses mail-in ballots were put into law by the Pennsylvania legislature in 2019 with the passage of Act 77. The law specifies that ballots must be received in the office of county election boards no later than 8 p.m. during a primary or Election Day and does not require ballots to be mailed.
The law also does not require counties to have a drop box for the return of mail ballots.
Read More:
- County Commissioners consider new drive-by drop box for election ballots
- Lebanon County Commissioners discuss ballot drop box controversy
- Kuhn and Phillips nix secure mail-in ballot drop box at county building entrance
During a presentation to the election board Thursday, Drasher said his department was ahead of schedule with its election ballot, but election officials are in limbo until the third of three state court cases is resolved.
“Even though we’re ready to go, we can’t mail or approve the ballot until the state resolves, the court resolves those cases,” he said. “So there is one more case filed for Friday and we’ve already been notified through channels to expect an appeal with the (state) supreme court and pushing back ballot approval (by) weeks.”
Drasher noted that although the county is ready to do ballot testing for accuracy, that can’t occur until the court case has been resolved.
“That means that ballots will not be mailed out in any county in the state until the very end of this month,” he said. “That puts a squeeze on that schedule, but there is absolutely nothing we can do. Everything is locked and loaded, but we’re all in the same boat. The Supreme Court case is killing us.”
Drasher added that ballot accuracy testing, which was to start this week, will be delayed by one week.
The testing will take a week and then ballots will go out after that,” he said. “We’re pushed way back. Folks, I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it is what it is.”
Kuhn said he wants to make the public aware that the issue is beyond the county’s control and that county officials will do their best to distribute ballots once they are legally able to do so.
Drasher also reported that county residents have requested 6,200 mail-in ballots that have been processed. (Only voters who contact voter registration and request a mail-in ballot are mailed one.)
“We’re expecting a lot more yet,” said Drasher, who later added that the final number is expected to be around 10,000 mail-in ballots distributed for the April primary. “We’re ahead of where we’ve been at the last bunch of elections at this point in the election cycle but we’re not at huge numbers relative to other counties.”
Drasher told LebTown after the meeting that if mail-in ballots are received prior to April 1, his office, which is located on the second floor of the municipal building, will accept them during regular business hours.
In other election news, Drasher said the county’s new poll books have been delivered.
“They’re down the hall here, locked up and ready to go,” said Drasher. “We’ll also be Logic and Accuracy Testing those as well, but we’re going to wait a few weeks until we have some data to put in to test it, so that’s an exciting development for us.”
Drasher said there will be two training sessions for poll workers to attend on either March 25-26 or April 1-2, adding these will be important since they’ll be trained on how to use the new e-poll books to sign in voters at the county’s 60 precincts on Election Day.
The Pennsylvania 2024 presidential primary is scheduled for April 23. The last day to register to vote is April 8. The last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is April 16.
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