Lebanon County gets new top election official. What does that means for Nov. elections?

As election ballots are about to be mailed out to voters for the November election, the Lebanon County Bureau of Elections and Voter Registration will be welcoming a new director.

Jason Todd was named the county's new bureau director at a county commissioners meeting Thursday, with his first day planned for Sept. 20. The Army veteran was selected out of eight candidates, according to officials.

"I'm definitely happy to be in Lebanon because I think this county shows its independence on a regular basis," Todd said.  "I think you see Americans here abiding by their freedoms and stuff in this county, so I'm very happy to be a part of this."

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Originally from Hinesville, Georgia, he previously had been the borough manager in New Cumberland. He started his own an international commodity trading company before deciding to work for the county. 

"The hours got a little long for me, so I decided to come back to the public sector and apply for this job," he said. "The rest is history now."

There are 90,200 registered voters in Lebanon County as of Thursday for the General Election, according to outgoing election chief Michael Anderson. Starting Monday, election officials will be sending out mail-in and absentee ballots to residents. 

"We have just under 7,000 approved applications," he said. "The only issue we have at this point is we are still waiting for an envelope order. We have some pre-made packets with envelopes that we can start with, but we are going to run out." 

Anderson was promoted in August to be the county's director of domestic relations, starting Sept. 20. He had worked in that department for nine years before taking the elections job.

Election offices and voting procedures around the commonwealth have been under scrutiny since the 2020 presidential election.

On Wednesday, Republicans voted 7-4 in the state Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee to approve subpoenas to get the personal information of Pennsylvania voters. Information subpoenaed included the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, birthdays, and dates and details of how residents voted in the November 2020 General Election and the May 2021 primary.

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Anderson has repeatedly told officials that he has seen no proof of widespread voter fraud in Lebanon. 

In an interview with the Lebanon Daily News in August, Anderson said his biggest frustration has been trying to get state legislators and the governor to make meaningful reform toward the election process. Since starting in 2016, Anderson said he has pushed for common sense solutions that have stalemated through the process. 

Election directors, including Anderson, have made recommendations that include the ability to track mail-in ballots, allowing pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots before Election Day and making the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot 15 days before an election.

"I think if you talk to election directors as a group, there are certain things we agree on that need to be changed that would help us administrate these elections better," he said in August. "We're still kind of waiting for that, and we'll see what happens."

The registration deadline to vote in the Nov 2 elections is Oct. 18.  

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.