Luzerne County Board of Elections Sets Hearing on Referendum Challenge

The Luzerne County Board of Elections scheduled a public hearing for July 16 at the Penn Place Building to adjudicate signature challenges regarding a petition to repeal a new non-discrimination ordinance. The ordinance, passed June 9, creates a human relations commission to oversee discrimination complaints in housing, employment, education, and healthcare.

Chris Belles, a county councilman, initially claimed the petition fell short of the 1,162-signature threshold, reporting only 1,109 valid entries. However, county officials later discovered a data transfer error where 56 pages containing approximately 322 signatures did not transfer to a public USB drive. With 1,899 total signatures originally submitted, the repeal effort is likely to proceed, though Belles continues to challenge 475 signatures based on handwriting, dates, and address errors. Simultaneously, petition leader Walter Griffith is contesting the rejection of 60 signatures by the Council Clerk.

Parallel to the election dispute, Ben Herring and Griffith filed an invasion of privacy lawsuit against Belles after he posted petition records, including names and addresses, online. Belles defended the action as a matter of transparency. To move the repeal toward a potential May 2027 ballot, the committee must collect 11,615 signatures by August 8.