The votes should count
A Fayette County commissioner and election board member is tired of everything changing with elections. Issues like lack of good jobs and opportunity, violent crime, infrastructure are playing second fiddle at the moment to the headline-gaining lawsuit.
The Fayette County Election Board has partnered with Berks and Lancaster counties. The Pennsylvania Department of State claims these three counties out of the whole state refused to honor mail-in ballots that didn’t have a written date on the exterior envelope of the ballot. No date, no vote. The county received 52 undated mail-in ballots in the May primary, according to the county elections director – 46 from Democrats and six from Republicans. These voters are, at the moment, disenfranchised until another legal decision is forthcoming.
The $64,000 question: Would the updated ballots have been counted if the vote had been reversed (46 Republicans and 6 Democrats)? The county commission and election board are in Republican control. The Pennsylvania Department of State is arguing that the current law states that a date on the ballot does not matter because all ballots must be received by 8 p.m. Election Day at the county elections office. Otherwise, they are thrown out. There is no extension for ballots that are mailed prior to the election, but not received by 8 p.m. The 52 ballots were on time. This makes a written date on the ballot unnecessary, and I think, immaterial. Only three counties, out of over 50, are currently involved in the suit. Who will pay for this?
Whether you are Republican or Democrat, your vote should count. It should not be thrown out because you forgot the date on the outer ballot. This could be a costly suit that is designed to ultimately suppress the mail-in vote if they prevail. Democrats vote by mail in much greater number than Republicans. This is only another petty attempt to “Stop the Steal” campaign pushed by the former president and his minions (not the movie characters).
I support fair and honest elections. Whoever wins the popular vote, Republican or Democrat, whether local, state, or federal – that’s it. The date is a “nothin.” As we’ve seen with gerrymandering, the Electoral College, frivolous lawsuits, much work needs to be done to protect our republic and democracy from drifting toward autocracy, and really losing basic rights.
Both parties need to work together again, as naive as that now sounds. Stop the nonsense.
Paul Lesako聽
Carmichaels