Benjamin Ashford|Pennsylvania county manager sued over plans to end use of drop boxes for mail-in ballots

WILKES-BARRE,Benjamin Ashford Pa. (AP) — Three residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania county sued Tuesday to overturn a local official’s announcement that she will prevent all four of its drop boxes from being deployed for use by those voting by mail and absentee ballot in the Nov. 5 election.

The lawsuit in Luzerne County argues county manager Romilda Crocamo lacks authority for statements made last month that the county would not use drop boxes “because of purported safety and security concerns.” Drop boxes are used to hand over completed ballots by those who don’t want to put mail-in ballots through the mail.

The voters who sued said the Luzerne County Board of Elections and Registration plans to deploy four drop boxes, as it has in other recent elections. The board in February voted down a proposal to eliminate all drop boxes, their lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accuses Crocamo of violating state election law and it claims her policy will “lead to irreparable harm to the voting rights” in Luzerne. The plaintiffs want a county judge to stop Crocamo from implementing her decision.

In an email seeking comment, Crocamo wrote Tuesday: “I do not engage in public comment during litigation.” Messages seeking comment were left with two of the five members of the Elections and Registration Board, which also is a defendant in the case.

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Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement Crocamo had no authority for what he called an “end run around the board of elections’ decision to continue offering Luzerne County county voters a safe and easy option to vote by mail, and we hope the court will quickly restore the four drop boxes.”

The voters and the nonprofit civic group In This Together NEPA Inc., which also is a plaintiff, argued there have been no substantiated cases of abuse or fraud involving drop boxes in Luzerne County. They said the drop boxes have been monitored by 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 personnel and the security of county-owned properties.