WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) 鈥� The polls had just opened for last year鈥檚 midterms in Pennsylvania when the phones began ringing at the election office in Luzerne County.
Polling places were to print ballots. Volunteers were frustrated, and voters were getting agitated.
Emily Cook, the office鈥檚 interim deputy director who had been in her position for just two months, rushed to the department鈥檚 warehouse. She found stacks of paper, but it was the wrong kind 鈥� ordered long ago and too thick to meet the requirements for the county鈥檚 voting equipment.
Conspiracy theories swiftly began to spread: Republican polling places were being targeted; Democrats overseeing elections were trying to disenfranchise Republicans.
鈥淭he feeling early on in the day was panic 鈥� concern 鈥� which grew to overwhelming panic,鈥� said Cook, a 26-year-old native of Luzerne County. 鈥淎nd then at some point throughout the day, there was definitely a feeling of people are starting to point fingers 鈥� before the day was over, before things were even investigated.鈥�
The paper shortage, corrected later in the day, turned out to be an administrative oversight by a new staff but has had consequences that are still rippling through the county of 200,000 voters, sowing doubt about how elections are run and leading to a .
It also serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of a change that has been largely hidden from public view but has transformed the election landscape across the U.S. since the 2020 presidential election: an exodus of local election directors and their staff.
Election offices have been understaffed for years. But 2020 was a tipping point, with all the pandemic-related challenges before the presidential vote and the hostility afterward driven by false claims of a stolen election.
A wave of has followed, creating a across the country. Experts in the field say widespread inexperience creates risk in an environment where the slightest mistake related to voting or ballot counting can be twisted by nto a nefarious plot to subvert the vote.
鈥淧eople growing weary of dealing with the constant criticism, the unending workload, the inability to have any sort of work-life balance at all, and then finding themselves constantly in the spotlight and under scrutiny has, I think, put us in a national crisis,鈥� said Jennifer Morrell, a former local election official in Utah and Colorado. 鈥淭his feels like a really precarious spot.鈥�
In Pennsylvania, officials estimate 40 of the state鈥檚 67 county election offices have new directors or deputy directors since 2020. The turnover is even more stark in other presidential swing states. In , election directors in 11 of 17 counties will be overseeing their first presidential election next year, while in at least 12 of 15 counties have lost at least one top election official.
In , where the Republican Legislature recently moved to of state and local election boards, roughly a third of 100 county election directors have left since the 2020 election.
The dangers are not lost on Al Schmidt, a Republican who helped oversee elections in Philadelphia and faced death threats in 2020. Now Pennsylvania鈥檚 Schmidt said his department has been working to increase training materials and build relationships among local election officials in the hopes of reducing future mistakes.
鈥淭here are no redoes of Election Day,鈥� Schmidt said. 鈥淓verything has to be right, and it has to be right every time.鈥�
That has not been the case in recent years in Luzerne County. The 2022 ballot debacle, referred to locally as 鈥減apergate,鈥� was just the latest problem in a county that is on its fifth election director in the three years since the 2020 presidential election.
The troubles have only increased doubts among voters, some of whom were already distrustful of elections because of the about the 鈥� despite Republicans holding 10 of 11 seats on the local governing board.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a whole host of things that have gone on in this county where people sit back now, the electorate sits back and goes, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e just rigging the election,鈥欌�� said County Controller Walter Griffith Jr., a Republican and longtime resident. 鈥淚 try to tell people we got to figure out a way to get past all of those things because you鈥檙e not going to win anything and you鈥檙e not going to make anything better by doing that.鈥�
There鈥檚 no one reason for why the county has experienced so much turnover in its election office, but there is little doubt the churn has added to problems confronting the department. Staffers reported finding instructions about important election procedures written on scraps of paper.
Griffith and others note recent hires have lacked significant election experience.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e brought in because a lot of people don鈥檛 want to work in elections, and that鈥檚 understandable with so much divisiveness,鈥� said Denise Williams, a Democrat who chairs the Board of Elections, a citizen group formed under the county charter that, among other duties, certifies election results.
Cook understands the pressure first hand. Hired as an administrative assistant, she found herself serving as interim deputy director within a year despite having no previous election experience. When she started in September 2021, the director who hired her gave his notice on her first day. His replacement was on the job about eight months before he, too, left.
鈥淛ust in the two years that I鈥檝e been here, I find it difficult to believe when somebody starts that they鈥檙e going to be here for the long haul,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 begrudge anybody that has left. It is a very difficult role to be in.鈥�
Nationally, the harassment of election workers has drawn the attention of Congress, state lawmakers and law enforcement. During a 2021 congressional hearing, Schmidt quoted one of the threats he had received: 鈥淭ell the truth or your three kids will be fatally shot.鈥� Lawmakers in several states have criminal penalties for those who threaten election workers, and the Justice Department has formed a that has charged more than a dozen people across the country.
In Luzerne County, the distrust of elections has sometimes boiled over in public meetings. One recent meeting of the elections board focused almost entirely on ballot drop boxes, a frequent target of conspiracy theories. A few cities within the county have banned them, and the board was considering whether to replace one that had to be moved as a result.
Public comment was dominated by those who don鈥檛 trust the boxes and who feel the board is ignoring their concerns. They called on the board to release security footage of drop boxes from previous elections.
鈥淚f you really have nothing to hide, then why aren鈥檛 you doing whatever it takes to be transparent 鈥� particularly knowing of all the problems we鈥檝e had in the elections over the last few year?" one resident asked the board.
Frustration also was evident during a congressional hearing last spring into the paper ballot shortage during the midterms. One local resident, Theodore 鈥淭.J.鈥� Fitzgerald, told lawmakers the Democrat-led board of elections was 鈥渕ore interested in drop boxes than making sure there were policies and procedures.鈥� Fitzgerald, who has called for leadership changes and more training for election workers, also represents the county鈥檚 political transformation.
A former Democrat, he said he is now unhappy with both major parties and has started his own group of like-minded conservatives. County voters, in previous elections, backed Democrats Al Gore, John Kerry and Barack Obama, but then twice voted for Trump.
Of the local election office, Fitzgerald said he knows they are trying to improve: 鈥淏ut they are not coming through when you need them the most,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t would be nice for nothing to happen.鈥�
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, a Republican elected in 2021, said he was disappointed the congressional hearing was held before his investigation into the paper shortage was complete. He said there was of voter suppression.
Local election officials were in a tough position trying to explain what happened given the active investigation, Sanguedolce said.
鈥淣o matter what you were going to say, it was going to be twisted by people who wanted things to be twisted," he said.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican from Wisconsin who chairs the committee that held the hearing, said it provided important answers and accountability for local residents.
A new county manager, Romilda Crocamo, was hired earlier this year 鈥� responsible for overseeing everything from Luzerne County鈥檚 airport and roads to the election office. She has brought in a consultant to create an elections manual so there will be no confusion about what needs to be done if an employee leaves.
She also has been encouraging staff to be more accessible, hold public demonstrations showing how they work and provide regular updates on election preparations, including how they handle unexpected problems 鈥� like a recent glitch that mixed up city council races on some ballots.
"When you don鈥檛 do that, then the stories start morphing into something that really isn鈥檛 happening,鈥� Crocamo said. 鈥淲e have nothing to hide.鈥�
As the county prepares for municipal elections in November, the memory of the last one and its aftermath remains fresh for Cook. She recalls angry voters showing up at the election office, contentious public meetings and law enforcement officials warning her about threats.
鈥淚 wish there were words to describe the feeling of sitting in a room with detectives from the district attorney鈥檚 office and the sheriff and being told, 鈥楾his is what people are saying about you, you need to be careful,鈥欌�� she said.
After that meeting and being told that she deserved to be executed, Cook said she considered leaving the job.
鈥淭here鈥檚 only one way to fix what鈥檚 happened in this office, and it鈥檚 not by quitting and leaving it in further turmoil,鈥� she said. 鈥淭wo years from now, somebody could make the same mistake. But I鈥檓 here. I lived it, and I鈥檓 never going to make the mistakes again.鈥�
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This story was first published on Oct. 22, 2023. It was published again on Oct. 23, 2023, to correct that US Rep. Bryan Steil is from Wisconsin, not Illinois.
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Christina A. Cassidy, The Associated Press
