During the May 13 Lehigh County Board of Commissioners meeting, bill 2026-19 approved an amendment to the Home Rule Charter pertaining to the expansion and modification of the Election and Registration Commission. This bill passed 8-1, with Commissioner Sheila Alvarado singly opposing.

Commissioner Sarah Fevig explained this bill will transform the three-person election board to a balanced board of five members consisting of “citizen, nonelected official members, two belonging to each of the political affiliations with the most county voters and the third with the political affiliation with the third most registered voters in Lehigh County.”

Additionally, this bill will codify the role of the independent voter and, in some clarifying back and forth between Fevig and citizen participant Chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Committee Joe Vichot, the independent voters are in fact included with the nonaffiliated voters to make up the third group of the new board.

Despite the references to 20% of Lehigh County voters not belonging to the two major political parties and thus their votes are often not considered, Alvarado steadfastly spoke out in opposition to this amendment. She cited her times as both a poll worker and while out canvassing, where she continuously heard from voters who didn’t realize they were registered as nonaffiliated and thus couldn’t vote in primary elections.

Alvarado believes the gaps that require fixing don’t necessitate a new board, but rather improved civic education and efforts at the state level to reverse Pennsylvania as a closed primary state.

Given the bill passed, voters will have a chance to exercise their opinions on this new bill via a referendum that will appear on the November ballot. Vichot also spoke during citizens’ input regarding the recent occurrence of improperly distributed mail-in ballots. While the ballots distributed were incorrect, the instruction on how to navigate this challenge also came too late for many to resolve. Vichot requested the board’s support in arranging for an independent group to come in and review the election process.

Brace responded to Vichot’s comments with the pledge to invite the director of voter registration to a future board meeting for both an introduction and conversation specific to what occurred, as well as the actions taken to combat this from recurring.

Brace also took the opportunity to clarify the board of elections is independent of the board of commissioners, meaning the commissioners cannot set any policies about the operations or administrations of elections. He encouraged concerned citizens to call the voter registration office at 610-782-3194 to inquire as to the status of their vote.

Michael O’Hare, a member of the board of elections, took to the podium to reinforce his faith in Lehigh County’s election office. Citing human error, he acknowledged the mistake will likely “erode confidence in the election process.”

O’Hare encouraged folks concerned with the status of their mail-in ballot vote to still go to the polls and vote provisionally, reinforcing and exercising the importance of one’s constitutional right to vote.

In other business, the board unanimously approved two resolutions, which declared May 2026 both Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Month and Mental Health Awareness Month in Lehigh County. Specific to the latter, Chair Geoff Brace reported the director of human services estimates approximately $252 million will be dedicated toward mental health, drug and alcohol services in 2026.

Also under the designated chair’s review and in light of conversations at recent meetings, Brace shared that $65.3 million in mental and behavioral health expenditures is allocated by Lehigh County for its youth. Summarizing further, Brace addressed the apparent mental health crisis in the United States and stated his belief of a need for “leadership from the federal government to solve this national problem. Otherwise, all we’re doing is treating the symptoms, knowing that the structural reforms are a dream for mental wholeness in our community.”

Commissioners Jon Irons and Zach Cole-Borghi withdrew their sponsorship to resolution 2026-19 during the meeting. This resolution aims to create a policy concerning county employee interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Given recent community feedback, Irons explained the verbiage of the resolution is not ready for a vote. As a result of the commissioners pulling their support, the resolution was removed from the agenda.

A total of five bills received their first read and were expected to be brought forward for second read and consideration during the May 27 meeting.

Ed Angelo virtually commented upon the subject of juvenile detention. Referencing bill 2026-14, Angelo indicated he hopes “we pay for those beds for the next however many years and they remain empty.”

Angelo suggested stronger focus on the source waters of juvenile issues — child poverty. He referenced some $168 million a year being spent on the criminal justice system, urging a portion of those funds to be diverted toward combating child poverty and the challenges facing young people.

Dr. Kelley Kenney was successfully appointed to the Lehigh County Human Relations Commission with a term expiring July 31, 2029.

In old business, bill 2026-18 unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between Lehigh County and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, CTW, CLC for their services at Cedarbrook.

The board of commissioners was expected to meet June 10, and the finance committee meets 6 p.m. June 17 to discuss the wealth intangible properties bill.