State House candidate Jamie Walsh sued Luzerne County and its elections board Friday, claiming officials have taken too long to process voter registration and mail-in ballot applications.
Walsh's suit comes before a key deadline has even passed: Voters have until 5 p.m. Tuesday to submit requests for mail-in ballots.
The suit alleges the county deliberately chose "to not timely process the approximately 2,500 additional new applications for voter registration" received before the Oct. 21 registration deadline.
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo emailed county officials Friday to inform them voter registration processing is complete.
In an interview Friday night, Crocamo said the county will hire an outside lawyer to respond to Walsh's suit. She expects a further announcement Monday.
Milford attorney Charles Kannebecker filed the suit.
"The voters of Luzerne County have been disenfranchised for far too long," Walsh wrote in a text message Friday night.
"This election is paramount to have correct," Walsh added.
He referred further questions to Kannebecker.
Walsh, a Ross Township resident, is running unopposed for the 117th House District seat after defeating Republican incumbent Mike Cabell by four votes in a bruising, months-long legal battle that followed the April 23 primary election.
Walsh's suit claims the county's "policy of inaction" and "deliberate indifference" have violated his constitutional rights of freedom of speech and due process.
The suit does not present specific evidence of how and when the alleged failures occurred.
Its only reference to a recent action concerns an Oct. 23 elections board meeting. At the meeting, the board allegedly failed to identify a "process or standard by which ballots would be mailed" by the county so voters could return them by 8 p.m. Nov. 5, as required by the state.
Previous incidents cited
The suit does include references to previous high-profile election failures in Luzerne County, including this month's incorrect spelling of Rep. Alec Ryncavage's name on 6,700 ballots, ballot paper shortages during the 2022 election which recently resulted in a $30,000 settlement, and a 2022 incident in which nine military ballots were discarded by a mentally impaired temporary worker who was later fired.
Contractor Dominion Voting Systems took responsibility for the Ryncavage mistake and attributed it to human error. Dominion agreed to pay for the costs of re-printing and mailing ballots and informational cards to affected voters.
Walsh's suit does not mention Dominion's admission. It does say that "several voters are reported to have received two replacement ballots instead of one."
