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You Need to Pay Attention to This Year’s Pennsylvania Elections

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There is a lot going on this year in Pennsylvania’s elections. Locally we have 4 school board seats on the ballot which should be of interest to everyone in North East, but statewide there’s a lot to focus on, too. You will have a vote on whether or not to retain three Supreme Court Justices, all Democrats, on a court which is currently lopsided with a 5 to 2 Democrat majority. When our last Governor, Tom Wolf was challenged on any matter, he was quick to take it to the Supreme Court to “let the court decide.” Of course he was, because of the Democrat majority, he would win, often with a party line vote. This year is an opportunity to fix that.

PA Supreme Court justices are politically affiliated

Pennsylvania is one of seven states that selects justices for the supreme court with a partisan election. The Pennsylvania court has 7 justices. Candidates are affiliated with a political party and appear on the ballot like any other candidate for office. It is the rare voter who knows anything about those candidates or their previous legal record. The current court has 5 democrats and 2 republicans on the bench. In an ideal world, a justice, once seated, evaluates each case on its merits with absolute impartiality and adheres to the law, … in an ideal world. Political affiliation doesn’t shouldn’t matter.

We’ll be talking a lot more about the primary and general elections this year as we get closer to May and November, but it’s important not to tune them out. These elections will have a major effect on you and me, sometimes more so than the national elections that get all of the coverage.

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Filed Under: Elections and voting Tagged With:

  1. Everyone has the right to know what their government is doing.
  2. Transparency is expected in all government meetings and daily operations.
  3. Everyone working in the government works for, and is answerable to, you and me.
  4. All laws, regulations, ordinances, budgets, audits and other public records should be freely available, preferably online, for citizens to examine without special fees and paperwork before they can do so.
  5. When municipalities seek bids for contract work, all bid documents should be available online, free of charge. Printed copies, if requested, should be offered at cost.
  6. Agendas should be posted online a minimum of 3 days before public meetings take place allowing interested citizens an opportunity to hear discussions and offer input on matters important to them.


Comments

  1. All of these races are very important! Get informed on all of the Candidates in all races. There is nothing more dangerous than an uninformed voter.