No Deputies Assigned To Mail-In Ballot Boxes This Election

There has been a noticeable change at mail-in ballot drop off boxes this fall.

Instead of having armed law enforcement and security, the Bucks County Board of Elections hired per diem staff to man the county’s 11 mail-in ballot drop boxes.

In the last two primary elections and last fall’s general election, armed Bucks County Sheriff’s Office deputies and county security stood at the three drop boxes in the lower, central, and upper end of the county to secure the locations and help voters. On many occasions, voting staff were also present to assist those arriving.

With the expansion of ballot drop boxes this fall, Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, the chairperson of the Board of Elections, said the decision was made to swap out armed officials with elections staff.

Harvie, a Democrat, said expanding from three to 11 locations would have been a drain on the resources of the sheriff’s office. Another factor was that the sheriff’s office is on the ballot this year.

There are about 60 deputies who are tasked with serving warrants and court papers, transporting people in custody, and providing security to the Justice Center in Bucks County.

Sheriff Milt Warrell, a Democrat who is ending his time in office in just weeks, said he made the decision not to provide deputies for the drop boxes due to concerns he heard over the legality of drop boxes.

While mail-in voting was approved by the legislature in 2019, Warrell said he has been told there are some outstanding questions about whether numerous ballot drop boxes throughout the county are legal.

Warrell was quick to note he does not believe conspiracy theories and falsehoods spread about the validity of the 2020 election.

The Bucks County Board of Elections and Pennsylvania Department of State believe the drop boxes are legal. Many other counties in Pennsylvania, including all of the neighboring jurisdictions, use ballot drop boxes.

Harvie said numerous other counties do not use deputies or elections staff to man drop boxes.

There were no credible security threats against the boxes that he has been made aware of, Harvie added.

Warrell said he was not aware of any threats, and his deputies were most likely not needed for security.

Some drop boxes, like the one at the county offices in Bristol Township and Administration Building in Doylestown Borough, are located near stations manned by deputies or security.

A few concerns have been voiced over the past year that armed law enforcement standing near ballot boxes could be a deterrence for some voters. Absent a problem, armed law enforcement, aside from a limited number of constables, are not visible at in-person polling places.

The commissioner said many counties in the state don’t use staff to monitor drop boxes, but they do use secure boxes and have security cameras in place.

In addition to using tamper-proof boxes and having staff there, each drop box in Bucks County is monitored by a security cameras. The footage is reviewed regularly, officials have said.

“This is a secure system,” Harvie said.

Warrell said his deputies will continue their duty of transporting ballots on election night from collection locations to the Board of Elections’ office in Doylestown Borough.

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