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<p>Luzerne County Election Director Marisa Crispell has resigned amid ongoing controversy over her vendor-funded advisory board trips.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri announced the resignation Wednesday morning, saying it will take effect Sept. 6.</p><p>&#8220;The 2019 November general election will not be affected due to veteran staff and leadership in the Bureau of Elections and the Division of Administrative Services,&#8221; Pedri said in an email.</p><p>The vacant position has been posted at <a href="https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/luzernecounty/jobs/2555328/director-of-elections?page=2&amp;pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.luzernecounty.org</a>, and Pedri encouraged eligible applicants to submit their resumes.</p><p>Both the state and county ethics commissions were asked to review Crispell&#8217;s advisory board trips to Las Vegas, Nevada and Omaha, Nebraska, funded by Election Systems &amp; Software (ES&amp;S), the company that sold the county its electronic poll books, two sources have said. Both investigations are still underway, sources said.</p><p>Crispell has said her involvement on the board was cleared by Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik and county assistant solicitor Michael Butera and that she stepped down from the advisory role in fall 2017 before the county sought proposals from electronic poll book suppliers in January 2018.</p><p>ES&amp;S, which received the $325,000 electronic poll book contract, covered travel, lodging for two nights and meals for the trips that Crispell had valued at $2,493 in a financial interest statement she amended after the issue surfaced here in December.</p><p>Several county council members have said they should have been informed of Crispell&#8217;s advisory board role before they voted on poll books.</p><p>The county administration had paid Harrisburg firm McNees Wallace &amp; Nurick LLC $47,400 to analyze the conduct of Crispell and other employees to determine if they violated any county policies, rules of regulations, officials said. The report was shared with council members during a closed-door executive session earlier this year, with instructions it should not be released.</p><p>It&#8217;s a busy time for the election office.</p><p>In addition to typical preparations for the upcoming election, the office has launched a consolidation/redistricting set to take effect in the November general election. This plan includes a proposal to increase election voting districts in seven municipalities and cut the number in four others due to geographically shifting registration counts.</p><p>The county also must select a new voting system mandated by the state containing a paper record that can be verified by voters. The new systems must be operational by the April 2020 primary.</p><p>As a precaution, Pedri has excluded Crispell from the system selection process because ES&amp;S is one of the three vendors that submitted proposals to provide the new system.</p><p>Crispell, who could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday, has privately mentioned to some in county government in recent months that she was considering relocating in light of the scandal. She has maintained she never provided preferential treatment to ES&amp;S and always based recommendations on the best interest of voters and taxpayers.</p><p>She was first hired as county election director in December 2012, although she had been contracted to oversee the county&#8217;s November general election that year under an agreement with Wyoming County, her employer at the time. Her contracted services were needed because then-election overseer Tom Pizano had unexpectedly retired the end of September 2012.</p><p>In February 2015, Crispell resigned to take a private-sector position, saying at the time her decision was based largely on the intense workload and staffing shortages.</p><p>She expressed interest in returning and was rehired in September 2015 at her previous $50,000 salary. County Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik had been overseeing election matters during Crispell&#8217;s absence.</p><p>At the urging of Crispell, county officials added a deputy election director position in 2016 that is held by Mary Beth Steininger.</p><p>Despite the election trip controversy, Crispell received a merit-based raise earlier this year &#8212; a 1 percent increase boosting the compensation to $54,096.</p><p>The election director job posting says the position will pay $55,000 to $65,000 annually, with applications due Sept. 11. The minimum qualifications: a high school diploma with some post-secondary education, four years of proven election management experience and two years of supervisory experience in an election bureau that includes direct work with electronic voting machines.</p><p>In addition to the director and deputy, the office employs four full-timers &#8212; one electronic voting machine technician and three inspectors.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crispell </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_Crispell-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crispell </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></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 Director Marisa Crispell resigns