Mar 23, 2024 2 min read

It is hard to believe that after the election fiasco of November 2020, there are elected officials in our state who are driving us toward another cliff in the contest that is less than eight months away.

Pennsylvania was ripe for “the big (Trump) lie” that he had won Pennsylvania in 2020 because unlike sensible states that constitute the majority, election workers here are barred by law from counting the huge number of mail-in ballots before Election Day. Since far more Democrats than Republicans voted by mail in 2020, the first ballots counted showed Donald Trump as the winner and then as mail-in votes joined the tally through the delayed count, Joe Biden overtook him. Trump appealed to his supporters who do not understand nor want to understand what happened to wrongfully claim that he was the legitimate winner in Pennsylvania and that it was only through Democratic chicanery that President Biden was ultimately declared the victor.

Why will our General Assembly not allow pre-canvassing? The answer is as simple as it is infuriating. Republicans like my state Sen. Camera Bartolotta will not allow early counting of ballots unless they receive something in return which would serve to suppress the vote. The Democrats want a clean bill, so there is no deal.

May we remember who to “thank” when Pennsylvania is thrust into chaos following Nov. 5: Sen. Bartolotta and her colleagues in the Republican-dominated state Senate.

Oren Spiegler

Peters