Luzerne County election administrators have taken delivery of their long-awaited voting system machinery ahead of the upcoming Nov. 3 general election. The arrival of the equipment marks the completion of a transition that required temporary workarounds during the spring primary, according to administrative updates detailed in the county manager's regular division report.
The county had initially entered into an agreement last year to lease modern scanners, tabulators, and specialized ballot-marking hardware from election vendor Hart InterCivic. However, because the company’s latest Vanguard model was still moving through the state-level certification pipeline earlier this year, local officials were forced to rely temporarily on an older hardware generation provided by the vendor during the May 19 primary election.
With the Pennsylvania Department of State officially issuing the required state certification for the Vanguard machines, the county has formally unpacked the newly arrived units. Election workers have packaged and returned the borrowed older equipment to Hart. To facilitate a smooth transition for staff and poll workers, the vendor has committed to supplying updated operational training for the new machinery without charging any supplemental fees.
Alongside physical upgrades to voting hardware, the county has also modernized its public disclosure infrastructure by launching a fully operational online campaign finance database. The digital platform is intended to enhance transparency by granting community members direct and unhindered access to campaign filings without the administrative barrier of submitting individual records requests.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo briefed County Council members on the new system during a recent work session following an official inquiry. She confirmed that the implementation was accomplished through a $23,000 service contract awarded to EasyVote Solutions. According to Crocamo, the digital repository is up to date and functioning properly, allowing residents to view campaign reports directly on the county’s election web portal at luzernecounty.org.
Further election business will be handled during the upcoming meeting of the county’s five-member volunteer Election Board. The citizen board is slated to convene at 6 p.m. on Wednesday inside the Luzerne County Courthouse located on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Officials noted that citizens seeking to follow the proceedings virtually can find remote access instructions published in the council’s online boards and commissions directory.
Beyond election administration, county council members also received updates regarding mapping hardware used across municipal departments. Dan Reese, who directs the county’s Planning, Zoning, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) office, drew lighthearted reactions from council members when detailing the history of a critical wide-format printer that staff affectionately nicknamed "Harry Plotter."
Reese, who addressed council at Crocamo’s request after the device was highlighted in her monthly report, described the machine as an oversized inkjet printer built to generate large-scale diagrams and map sheets. The apparatus is approximately 12 years old and was designated as technically obsolete by industry standards as far back as 2018.
Maintaining the aging printer has presented logistical hurdles for local administrators. When the unit experienced operational problems, Reese noted that local repair technicians refused to take on the work, forcing the department to track down a specialized repair vendor based in the Lehigh Valley to restore its functionality.
To resolve ongoing reliability issues, the GIS department is in the process of acquiring a more compact, updated plotter tailored to its current mapping workflow. Rather than retiring the legacy printer entirely, the county plans to transfer "Harry Plotter" to the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency, where its large-format output capabilities will continue to serve critical public safety needs.
Emergency officials emphasized that access to wide-scale mapping equipment remains crucial during active disaster response efforts. Charles Krommes, the operations and training officer for the county emergency agency, explained to council members that the machine was instrumental in producing extensive physical mapping layouts during a past wildfire incident to coordinate evacuation routes. The announcement prompted Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino to applaud the machine's ongoing second act in public service.
In land-use developments, county attorneys are reviewing a comprehensive draft amendment to the zoning code specifically governing data centers. If formally ratified by County Council, the updated regulatory framework will directly govern 19 municipalities that do not operate independent zoning bodies and instead rely on Luzerne County’s unified zoning authority.
The affected municipalities encompass a dozen boroughs—Avoca, Courtdale, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, Jeddo, Laflin, New Columbus, Pringle, Warrior Run, West Wyoming, and Yatesville—along with seven townships, including Conyngham, Fairmount, Hunlock, Huntington, Lake, Ross, and Union.
The regulatory proposal advanced to the county legal staff after extensive vetting by the county Planning Commission. The advisory panel voted in May to recommend the measure to council following four separate revisions and multiple rounds of public comment sessions aimed at balancing community input with regional infrastructure demands.
Under the provisions of the proposed ordinance, prospective data center developments will be subjected to an exhaustive list of operational and environmental standards. Furthermore, the measure mandates that any developer seeking to establish a facility must secure a special exception approval from the county Zoning Hearing Board rather than proceeding through standard permitting.
Before the new regulations can take effect across the 19 municipalities, the amendment must clear several formal legislative steps. County Council must first conduct an introduction vote, schedule and convene a dedicated public hearing to gather community feedback, and ultimately pass the zoning measure by a majority vote at a subsequent council meeting.
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