Exodus of election officials in one county rings alarm for US democracy

High turnover in the election office in Luzerne, Pennsylvania, exacerbated human errors, fueling anger and distrust - and is emblematic of a larger crisis facing elections

It was the perfect story and Donald Trump pounced.

In the final weeks of the 2020 election, officials in Luzerne county in north-east Pennsylvania had discovered nine mail-in ballots in the trash. Several of them were cast in favor of Trump, who had been railing for months that the election was rigged against him. William Barr, then the attorney general, briefed Trump on the matter before it was public and Trump immediately began spinning it.