The Lackawanna County Board of Elections today authorized the use of six “drop boxes” for the collection of mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5, 2024 election. The board comprises Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan, Matt McGloin and Chris Chermak.

No vote was required because a resolution authorizing the use of drop boxes was adopted by the previous administration on April 23, 2021. To not use drop boxes in the November general election, the board would have had to pass a resolution rescinding the earlier one. Chermak moved to eliminate drop boxes, but the motion died for lack of a second.

A box inside the front entrance of the Lackawanna County Government Center, 123 Wyoming Ave., Scranton, will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5. All of the other drop boxes will be open to accept ballots until noon on Nov. 1, the Friday prior to Election Day.

Locations and hours for the other drop boxes follow.
Fallbrook Senior Community Center, 185 Fallbrook St., Carbondale, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Clarks Summit Borough Building, 304 State St., Clarks Summit, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dickson City Borough Building, 901 Enterprise St., Dickson City, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Moosic Borough Building, 715 Main St., Moosic, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Roaring Brook Twp. Municipal Building, 430 Blue Shutters Road, Roaring Brook Twp., Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All of the boxes will be under around-the-clock video surveillance. Under state election law, voters may deposit only their own ballots in the boxes.

Each day when the boxes are in operation, a staff member of the Department of Elections and Voter Registration and a deputy sheriff collect the ballots. The staffer ensures that the seal on the box has not been broken and records the seal number on a ballot-return form. At the site, the staffer counts the number of ballots collected and enters the number on the form, which is signed by the staffer and the deputy sheriff. They place the ballots in a secure box for transport to the government center. The deputy director of elections counts the ballots, checks the number against the collection form, signs the form and locks away the ballots until they are counted on Election Day.

In the May 2015 primary election, 1,153 voters used the drop box in the Lackawanna County Government Center; 136 used the Moosic Box; 395 deposited their ballots in the Dickson City box; 263 did so in Clarks Summit; and 124 used the box in Roaring Brook Twp.

Elizabeth Hopkins, director of the Lackawanna County Department of Elections and Voter Registration, said it’s not yet clear when the drop boxes will be installed because mail-in ballots are not yet available. When those ballots are mailed to voters who requested them, the drop boxes will be installed and there will be public notice.

Also at the meeting, the board voted unanimously to relocate several polling places.

In Old Forge, four polling places will be moved to Eagle McClure Hose Co. No. 1, 375 Milwaukee Road, Old Forge.

Old Forge 1 will move the Miles Street Community Park Pavilion. Old Forge 3 will move from the Old Forge Senior center, 310 S. Main St. Old Forge 6-1 and 6-2 will move from the Old Forge Municipal Building.

Scranton 23-1 will move from St. Clare’s Church, 2301 N. Washington Ave., to Robert Morris School, 1824 Boulevard Ave. Scranton 6-1 will move from Riverside Housing, 200 Emmett St., to Jackson Heights, 1001 Jackson St.

To accommodate construction at the Greenwood Hose Co., 3729 Birney Ave., Moosic, Moosic 1 and Moosic 4 will move to the Moosic Youth Center, 606 Main St., Moosic.

The board also authorized the Department of Elections to assign poll workers to precincts other than their own polling places, to ensure that all precincts are fully staffed for Election Day. All of the poll workers are registered voters who live in Lackawanna County.