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Delaware County board delegates emergency election authority to director
Summary
The Delaware County Board of Elections voted to delegate to Election Director James Allen authority to make emergency election-administration decisions, including emergency polling-place changes and mail/absentee ballot processing, after discussing examples that would require rapid action.
The Delaware County Board of Elections voted to authorize Election Director James Allen to make emergency election-administration decisions, including processing mail and absentee ballots and making emergency polling-place changes, for the upcoming election.
Board of Elections director James Allen said the delegation is meant to allow the office to respond quickly to last-minute court orders, polling-place emergencies and staffing vacancies. "For example, in 2022, right before the November election, we received a rather, extremely last minute order from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that changed which envelopes we were allowed to consider," Allen said, describing a decision that required immediate interpretation and staff rework the Friday before the election.
The board discussed the scope of the delegation before voting. Several members described the delegation as routine and standard practice. One board member said the authority helps the office manage events such as fires at polling places, sudden construction, or the need to make emergency appointments to fill local election-board vacancies in the five-day window before an election.
A separate member asked for examples and expressed discomfort with treating court rulings as "emergencies" that could be acted on solely by the director without prior board approval; the member said such issues should be shared with the board and can be reviewed at post-election certification or provisional hearings. Allen and other members said the director will circulate recommendations to the board and that the board will meet after the election for certification and to consider any differing views.
The motion to delegate emergency authority passed by voice vote. The motion text and the vote were recorded in the meeting minutes: the board asked for the director to keep members informed of major decisions and to consult individual members when appropriate.
The board also discussed schedule implications for the election that falls the Tuesday before Memorial Day weekend and asked members to keep calendars available for possible provisional hearings or return-board meetings in the days surrounding the holiday.
(Notes: vote recorded as voice vote; transcript records "all those in favor... Aye... none opposed" but does not list a roll-call tally.)
