Pennsylvania
The Morning Call: Lehigh Valley election 2024: When votes will be counted and how counties are preparing
Anthony Salamone and Grayson Golter of The Morning Call report Northampton and Lehigh counties preparations to count votes in the November election.
Christopher Commini knows all eyes will be on Northampton County this November.
The county is widely seen as an election bellwether in one of the most important swing states in the presidential election. And, it’s coming a year after Northampton drew national attention for errors in its voting machines caused by human error that led to confusion at the polls and finger pointing among county officials.
It led to the resignation of the county’s administration director, Charles Dertinger, who oversaw elections, and calls for change from at least three state lawmakers who represent the Lehigh Valley.
“This is probably the most important and consequential election of our lifetime,” said Commini, who became the county’s head of elections in 2022. “I will not speculate on the significance of the commonwealth. We will be prepared, and we will be ready.”
With less than six weeks to go before Election Day, elections officials in both Northampton and Lehigh counties say they’re prepared, and both expect ballot counting to be completed that night or the next day.
Commini provided Northampton County Council with updates on the county’s voting procedures, during a Sept. 18 meeting of the council’s Election Integrity Committee. The committee was created after last fall’s voting problems.