Luzerne County election bureau working on activating electronic poll books

Luzerne County’s Election Bureau is working to activate electronic poll books for the Jan. 31 special election, according to an email acting Election Director Beth McBride sent to the election board this week.

The county’s five-citizen election board had unanimously voted to return to electronic books at voter sign-in for the special election instead of using paper poll books as recommended by McBride.

The election bureau had switched from electronic poll books to paper ones in the Nov. 8 general election. McBride said the electronic ones were reaching their end of life and had created problems for some poll workers wrestling with technical issues.

However, board members said the electronic poll books are preferable because poll workers can instantly look up voters to ensure they are properly registered and if they are at the correct polling location.

They instructed the bureau to work with electronic poll book supplier Election Systems & Software, or ES&S, on preparing the devices, noting fewer will be needed in the special election to replace state Sen. John Gordner because only 18 of the county’s 76 municipalities in that senatorial district will be casting ballots.

In her email this week, McBride said she and Acting Deputy Election Director Emily Cook completed an initial test of the electronic poll books with help from county Engineer William McIntosh and Operational Services Division Head Greg Kurtz.

The team was able to power up all electronic books assigned to the special election precincts along with their corresponding printers, she said.

“We were also able to prove that they are retaining information by running a report on each of the poll books, which showed data from the last time they were used. There are a few hardware issues that need to be addressed, but they appear to be minor,” she wrote.

ES&S will be providing assistance with logic and accuracy testing, training and technical support during the special election, she said.

Because the state is reimbursing the county for special election costs, McBride said she and Cook plan to receive full training on operation of the electronic poll books, which could reduce the need for on-site support if the electronic books will be used in future elections.

She cautioned the bureau cannot be certain the electronic books are fully operational until logic and accuracy testing is completed immediately after the Jan. 17 deadline for voters to register for the special election.

If any issues are detected during this testing, the bureau must print paper poll books in-house as it did in a prior special election, she said.

“Again, although we were able to power them on today, there is a chance that they will not be fully operational for the special election and that will not be discovered until L&A testing,” McBride wrote.

The county purchased the poll books for $325,000 in 2018, with the promise the equipment would speed up and improve the processing of voters as they enter polling places, with voters signing in with a stylus on a tablet.