ACLU sues PA's Luzerne County over dropping ballot drop boxes

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against the Luzerne County Board of Elections and Registration and Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo over the decision not to deploy four mail-in ballot drop boxes in the upcoming presidential election. Notably, Luzerne County recently became a Republican-majority county among registered voters.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the non-profit In This Together NEPA and three mail-in ballot voters. The lawsuit stated that the county Board of Elections in February rejected a motion to eliminate the drop boxes in a 3-2 vote, and that the county has used drop boxes in every election since 2022. The four boxes were set to be put out in Wilkes Barre, Wright Township, Hazleton and Dallas.

In September, Crocamo announced "that the county would not use drop boxes for the upcoming November election because of purported safety and security concerns," the lawsuit stated, with Crocamo making another public statement reconfirming this decision in late September. 

"At no point was the matter formally brought to the Board of Elections and no public action was taken by the Board of Elections, since their February official action, to change the policy of deploying the four drop boxes," the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating Pennsylvania’s election code, saying that the county’s board of elections under law "shall have jurisdiction over the conduct of primaries and elections in such county, in accordance with the provisions of [the Election Code]." 

It added that "The Election Code further provides that when a county has adopted a home rule charter and creates an appointed board of elections, that body shall constitute the board of elections for purposes of the election code, provided it has minority representation," with Luzerne County adopting a home rule charter creating a five-person Board of Elections, four members of which are appointed by the county council and one member is voted on by the appointed members.

"The County Manager’s unilateral decision to eliminate the deployment of four election drop boxes was ultra vires of her authority and unlawfully usurped the Board’s authority and responsibility over administration of Luzerne County’s elections," the lawsuit alleges.

The ACLU stated that the decision from Crocamo "will lead to irreparable harm to the voting rights of the citizens of the county as delay in restoring the drop boxes will make it more difficult for some voters, especially those unable for physical or other reasons to vote at the polls or who regularly are called away unexpectedly for work or personal reasons, to ensure that their mail ballot is cast safely and delivered timely to the Board."

Crocamo said in September that her move to not put out the boxes was prompted by safety concerns. "It’s not an indictment against drop boxes, we’ve used them in the past. It’s just that right now, in Luzerne County, the political climate is really at the boiling point," she said, according to WVIA. One of the concerns, she said, was reports of people placing suspicious substances or other items in boxes nationwide. 

"I can't do anything to make those drop boxes safe and secure for my staff who will be working with them, and for individuals who may be using them," said Crocamo, who has also said the county didn't have enough staff to monitor the boxes.