The Times-Leader
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Wilkes-Barre Township’s 2,200 registered voters must go to the township municipal building on election day Nov. 4 because the volunteer fire department doesn’t want to continue providing a polling place, Luzerne County Election Director Marisa Crispell said Monday.
Crispell said she received a phone message about the fire department’s cancellation Monday from department acting chief Dan Harkenreader.
Harkenreader said department representatives made the decision as part of their push for a “fresh start.”
“With everything going on, we want to focus on firefighting and stay away from the political scene,” Harkenreader said.
Wilkes-Barre Township’s Council recently suspended funding to the volunteer fire department in light of concerns about financial oversight following the former fire chief’s guilty plea to federal theft charges.
Fire department officials concluded elections should be held in the municipal building and also did not want to deal with election remains, such as campaign signs left by candidates who don’t collect them as required, Harkenreader said.
Crispell said township officials were “very receptive” to allowing voting in the neighboring municipal building on Watson Street for the township’s two voting districts.
The county will post a notice at the fire department on election day directing voters to the municipal building and will mail postcards to all township voters informing them of the change, Crispell said.
Crispell said she would not have initiated the change because her office tries to assist volunteer fire departments who want to make their handicapped-accessible structures available on election day.
The fire department will lose $400 in rental from the county annually, she said. The county will save that expense because it does not pay rent for municipal buildings, she said.
The township fire department has served as a polling place for several years, Harkenreader said.
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