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Committee backs drafting edits to extend harassment protections to county election workers
Summary
The governance committee reviewed a proposed Northampton County ordinance to extend protections against harassment, threats and doxing to county election-office staff and temporary election workers not covered by the state election-code definition; staff will refine penalty and enforcement language and the ordinance is expected on the next council agenda for first reading.
A Northampton County commissioner introduced an ordinance on April 7 seeking to expand legal protections for more categories of election workers after members said Pennsylvania's election code defines "election officers" narrowly.
The draft was described as designed to protect county election-office staff, temporary workers who pre-canvass or count ballots, and volunteers from harassment, threats, intimidation and modern forms of abuse such as doxing—categories the speaker said are not currently covered by the state definition that applies to judges of elections and several clerk/inspector roles.
Mark Arndt, the county's director of administration, told the committee the administration needs time to review the proposed ordinance. "All I think I can say...is that we need to look it over," he said.
Committee members discussed enforcement and penalties in the draft. The ordinance as written included a summary-offense penalty with a maximum fine listed as $1,000. Members asked the solicitor and staff to clarify which body would impose penalties and whether language should give magistrates flexibility by making the amount a cap ("no more than $1,000") rather than a mandatory figure. The committee also favored defining fines "per occurrence" so each distinct threatening act could carry a separate penalty, and discussed whether escalation for repeat offenders should be handled through existing criminal statutes.
One committee member, who said they had spoken with a longtime election-office volunteer, stressed the human impact: volunteers often fear harassment and sometimes conceal their election work from neighbors for safety. "I think it's shameful that there are no protections for them," the member said, urging the committee to act.
The committee directed staff to work on the draft language (clarifying enforcement, per-occurrence treatment, and penalty caps) and asked administration to review the ordinance. Members said they intended to place the revised ordinance on the next county council agenda for a first reading.
Next steps: staff will revise penalty language to clarify per-occurrence fines and enforcement mechanics; administration will review the draft; the ordinance is expected to be scheduled for first reading at the next council meeting.
