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<p>Luzerne County election workers were subjected to some nasty comments before the Nov. 6 general election, office representatives said.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been a human punching bag for about two months because it was a very hateful election, very negative,&#8221; county Election Director Marisa Crispell told county election board members last week.</p><p>Mary Beth Steininger, the county&#8217;s deputy election director, said one woman angrily accused the office of purposefully failing to mail an absentee ballot to her son at college so he would not have the right to vote. Steininger suggested the student check the mail room at his college, and it was there.</p><p>One caller repeatedly cursed at a worker, Steininger said. Crispell said another screamed at a worker for 10 minutes.</p><p>Assistant Solicitor Michael Butera said the &#8220;irony&#8221; is that the office received more calls from Republicans in the 2016 presidential election saying it was &#8220;rigging the election for the Democrats.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Republicans won overwhelmingly in Luzerne County that year,&#8221; Butera said.</p><p>On Nov. 6, more Democrats complained the office was &#8220;suppressing the Democratic vote,&#8221; he said, noting Democrats ended up faring well in some races in the county.</p><p>Election Board member Keith Gould said he received an interesting complaint.</p><p>&#8220;One man was mad because he could not find a spot on the ballot to mark his choice for speaker of the House. I had to explain it to him.&#8221;</p><p><strong>New voting machines</strong></p><p>The county has received a commitment of $327,000 toward the purchase of new voting machines, Crispell told the election board.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri said the funding is the county&#8217;s share of a federal earmark. The state received $13.5 million from the federal government, which came to $14.15 million with a required state match, to be spread out among counties.</p><p>The state informed counties they must select new voting machines with a paper trail by the end of 2019 and should try to have them in place by the November 2019 general election.</p><p>Pedri said the recent allocation is a &#8220;drop in the bucket&#8221; because he has estimated new machines would cost $4 million. The administration will continue to lobby for additional funding, he said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a state mandate, and we want them to fund it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We tested a few systems, and they are impressive but expensive.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Security screening</strong></p><p>Pedri recently thanked county council for earmarking funds for the newly completed rear courthouse entrance screening area.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a much safer environment, and I&#8217;ve heard nothing but great things,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>The capital plan had earmarked $50,000 to reconfigure the basement-level entrance, but bids revealed the project would cost around $200,000. A council majority granted the administration&#8217;s request in March to apply $150,000 in savings from another project to the security work.</p><p>The project included relocation of the mapping/GIS and sheriff&#8217;s offices. The administration said the expanded screening area would address long lines of jurors and others during peak periods.</p><p>With change orders, the contract totaled $187,023.56, according to county records. Clarks Summit-based D&amp;M Construction Unlimited Inc. completed the work.</p><p>County Sheriff Brian Szumski described the screening area as an &#8220;amazing addition.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The employees just feel safer. The security guards love it. It&#8217;s so much easier, and safer and efficient for them,&#8221; Szumski told council.</p><p><strong>Fingerprinting</strong></p><p>County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis&#8217; proposed 2019 budget includes a $5,000 request to fund a new electronic fingerprinting system for centralized booking planned at the central court in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Central booking would allow offenders to be fingerprinted and taken into custody at one location, officials have said. Salavantis recently told council many other counties have central booking because it provides a more thorough accounting of an offender&#8217;s criminal history.</p><p>Salavantis said many area police departments are still using ink fingerprinting, which she described as &#8220;very outdated.&#8221; With ink, all arrests may not appear on a criminal history if there is a delay submitting the information, she said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_luzernecountycourthouse.jpeg-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Workers subjected to some nasty calls during recent election</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County election office was a “human punching bag” in recent election, official says