Turnover has plagued local election offices since 2020. One swing state county is trying to recover

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY
Associated Press

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Local election offices have been understaffed for years. But the 2020 election became a tipping point, with all the pandemic-related challenges before the presidential election and the hostility and death threats afterward that were fueled by the false claims of a stolen election. A wave of retirements and resignations has followed across the country, creating a vacuum of institutional knowledge in an environment in which the slightest mistake can be twisted by conspiracy theorists into a nefarious plot to subvert the vote. One Pennsylvania county is now on its fifth election director in the last three years, but has vowed to regain stability — and rebuild trust with voters.