Archive: Democracy
Elections are the bedrock of our democracy, and voting is a right that many do not exercise. However, even if every eligible person in the United States voted, voters would still find that their choices, at times, could be better as many elected seats run unopposed. In Southwest Pennsylvania, it happens rather often – especially […]
Every year at the beginning of summer, our Pennsylvania lawmakers spend weeks deciding how the state’s money will be spent in the upcoming year. Each party has priorities and negotiates to determine what will be included in the final budget. This budget season, our lawmakers kept much of their negotiations behind closed doors, and details […]
On November 5, 2024, we’ll be headed to the polls once again to decide who will represent our communities in our state and federal government offices. This year, as we do every four years, we will elect the President of the United States. However, the President isn’t the only thing we’re voting for this year […]
This year, I have been participating in the Building A Movement, or BAM, facilitation training cohort. It is a nine month training program for community leaders working on environmental and economic justice issues to sharpen their skills as a facilitator. This program is led by the folks at Taproot Earth and Project South, who have […]
Voting Rights Groups Respond to Decision In Washington County Court Over Disenfranchised Mail Voters
On Friday afternoon, the Washington County Court of Common Pleas ruled that the Pennsylvania Constitution requires the county board of elections to inform mail-in voters of any disqualifying errors on their mail-ballot packets when those errors are detected by the board. The court found that the constitution requires the board to provide that notice before the voter irretrievably loses the right to vote.
Washington, Pa. – Today, seven voters, the Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ), and the Washington Branch NAACP filed a lawsuit against Washington County over the board of elections’ new policy to deliberately conceal information about which voters had made disqualifying errors on their mail-in ballot envelopes and to affirmatively mislead many voters into thinking their mail-in ballots would be counted.