Secretary Al Schmidt Visits Lackawanna County Department of Elections
Noting that “counties really run elections,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt met Thursday with the Lackawanna County Department of Elections and Voter Registration staff and assured county residents of election integrity.
“Elections have changed for the better. They never have been more safe. They never have been more secure,” Schmidt said in a press conference following the department meeting with County Elections Director Beth Hopkins, County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, State Rep. Kyle Donahue and the office staff.
Echoing Gaughan’s assertion that the county department’s performance has been among the best in the state in the era of mail-in ballots, Schmidt said he was “very impressed by its operations and transparency. It’s clear that the people here really care about the electoral process.”
Schmidt distinguished himself as Philadelphia’s election commissioner following the volatile 2020 presidential election, when he steadfastly battled cascades of misinformation about the integrity of the city’s election and proved the safety and security of the vote.
“Scrutiny is a good thing,” Schmidt said, as long as it is aimed at raising legitimate issues rather than disrupting the election.
Schmidt pointed to the security and integrity inherent in using paper ballots, which provide an inherent trail, and the mandatory performance of two separate audits after each election.
The secretary appeared the day after the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia held that mailed ballots may be discarded if they do not include accurate dates, as provided by the voter, on the exterior ballot envelope – even when the ballot is returned before the deadline.
Schmidt called the 2-1 decision “disappointing,” but noted that his department redesigned the envelopes this year to emphasize the need for voters to provide the required information.
Pictured below, from left to right, Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan; Lackawanna County Elections Department Director Beth Hopkins; Pennsylvania Secretary of The Commonwealth Al Schmidt; and Pennsylvania State Representative Kyle Donahue.