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<p>Luzerne County Council candidate Walter Griffith has filed a court objection seeking to delay a voting district reconfiguration set to take effect in the Nov. 5 general election, prompting strong criticism from county Manager C. David Pedri.</p><p>Approved in county court last week, the reconfiguration would increase voting districts in seven municipalities to address population growth and reduce Election Day waiting time and cut the number of districts in four municipalities due to voter registration decline.</p><p>County President Judge Richard M. Hughes III issued an order approving the changes Sept. 6 but allowed objections to be filed through Thursday.</p><p>Representing himself, Griffith filed a petition arguing implementation should be delayed until the 2020 primary election because he does not believe it allows enough time to notify impacted voters of new polling places, which could create &#8220;possible confusion of where they are to cast their vote.&#8221;</p><p>Griffith also asserted the court won&#8217;t have enough time to appoint Election Day staff needed to man the additional districts, including judges of elections, majority and minority inspectors and clerks or machine operators.</p><p>The county election board also did not advertise the plan on its Sept. 4 meeting agenda, and the board has only one more meeting scheduled before the election to verify whether proper notices have been issued to voters, his petition said.</p><p>&#8220;The ability of the Luzerne County Board of Elections and the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections to accomplish this task in just 54 days is a risk and a catastrophe waiting to happen and can potentially disenfranchise thousands of voters in our county and should be not be granted by this honorable court,&#8221; Griffith&#8217;s petition said.</p><p>Griffith, a Republican from Kingston Township, said he is in favor of the plan but believes immediate implementation without an election director to oversee it is a &#8220;prescription for disaster.&#8221; The public and election process won&#8217;t be &#8220;harmed or prejudiced&#8221; by waiting until next year, he said.</p><p>County Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik is overseeing the election office as the administration seeks a replacement for director Marisa Crispell, who resigned effective Sept. 6.</p><p>Pedri said the administration has &#8220;every confidence&#8221; it will meet all voter notification and staffing deadlines and requirements for the Nov. 5 election.</p><p>&#8220;We never would have sought this change if we thought we couldn&#8217;t,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>He said Griffith had filed a complaint in the past that cost the county time and money and was &#8220;thrown out for a lack of merit.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;This is nothing new,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>In 2015, the county administration said Griffith&#8217;s unsuccessful appeal to the state challenging a county debt restructuring led to delays that cost the county $1.77 million in interest.</p><p>Griffith said at the time the administration should have initiated the restructuring sooner if debt repayment deadlines were a concern.</p><p>Pedri said he can&#8217;t discuss the specifics of Griffith&#8217;s new pending petition but that the county &#8220;will have its day in court.&#8221;</p><p>In response to Pedri, Griffith said his successful 2008 court challenge convinced a county judge to reduce new county borrowing for unpaid bills from $17 million to $5.3 million. Past court losses should not discourage citizens from filing complaints if they &#8220;feel they&#8217;ve been wronged,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s why we have courts to find out if something has merit,&#8221; Griffith said.</p><p>Griffith&#8217;s objection was not the only one. Kingston resident Brian Shiner filed his own objection Thursday afternoon mirroring much of the language in Griffith&#8217;s.</p><p>Under the proposal, two districts would be added in Dallas, Sugarloaf and Wright townships, while Butler, Fairview, Kingston and Rice townships would each receive one more.</p><p>One voting district would be eliminated in Freeland and Luzerne boroughs and Black Creek and Newport townships.</p><p>Boundary lines also would shift in Salem Township and Kingston to even out voter counts, but the number of districts would remain the same.</p><p>Without the change, the county currently has 180 election districts in the county&#8217;s 76 municipalities, with some separate districts share a polling place.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Griffith </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL121614budget2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Griffith </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>

Griffith files challenge seeking delay of Luzerne County voting district reconfiguration