“No more taxpayer money to put our identities at risk over an election that has been audited twice and certified. We elected our legislators to pay attention to Pennsylvania issues, not waste time and money.”
PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvanians are continuing to voice their outrage at Harrisburg Republicans’ fraudit, calling out the far-right politicians who think it’s ok to put their private information at risk in order to champion the Big Lie on behalf of Donald Trump. PA-Gov candidates: are you listening?
Instead of focusing on the issues that matter most to Pennsylvanians, Republicans across the Commonwealth, “[…] are willing to sacrifice our country’s hard-fought democratic form of government because a narcissistic TV ‘celebrity’ tells them to,” says Judy Hughes of Blue Bell.
Unfortunately for the candidates of the “Super MAGA” primary, Pennsylvanians won’t forget that the Republican candidates are peddling the same lies that are being used to justify subpoenas that would put Pennsylvanians’ social security numbers at risk.
While it’s clear the PA-Gov candidates are too afraid of Trump and the far-right to speak out, Pennsylvanians are fed up with Republican’ conspiracy theories and are making their voices heard in letters and grassroots protests across the Commonwealth:
Tribune-Review: Letter to the editor: Stop GOP’s plans to invade privacy to back ‘big lie’
By Nancy Cochran, Springdale, 09/25/21
Every registered voter in Pennsylvania should be outraged by what the pro-Trump lackeys in our state government are now trying to do. They have issued subpoenas to seek the name, address, driver’s license number and partial Social Security number of every person who was registered to vote in the last election. This information is to be sent to an unnamed audit firm commissioned to find voter fraud.
I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat or independent, this should be of concern to you. I believe all of this is done in the interest of the most corrupt president in our history.
It’s time to stop pushing the “big lie” about the election being stolen. The worst part of all of this is that the taxpayers (you and I) are going to foot the bill for this. Call or write your congressmen and let them know how you feel.
The Morning Call: Readers React: Pa. election audit wastes time and money
By Susan Jordhamo, Allentown, 09/27/21
I have worked on getting out the vote for many elections.
The big challenge has always been getting people to vote. People are so busy surviving that voting is not a big priority.
Also, there are many standard beliefs about the whole process. “Why bother? Nothing ever changes.” “All the candidates are the same.” “They are all crooked.” “What difference does it make?”
To assume that suddenly we now not only have the energy to vote, but also to commit fraud seems utterly absurd to me. It sounds like a fantasy.
Because of COVID-19, we now have more access to voting. Yay, for early voting, mail-in voting, drop boxes. At last.
Now being too busy is no longer an obstacle. You would think, in a democracy, we would all be shouting hallelujah. Right?
No. And now the Republican-majority state Senate is planning to give our private voter ID information to a private company as part of an election audit. No.
No more taxpayer money to put our identities at risk over an election that has been audited twice and certified.
We elected our legislators to pay attention to Pennsylvania issues, not waste time and money.
Centre Daily Times: Letters: Personal information must be protected; Reality check for Republicans
By CDT Readers, 09/27/21
PERSONAL INFORMATION MUST BE PROTECTED
For $20, anyone can obtain county lists of Pennsylvania voters, since this is public information covered by the “Sunshine Law.” Apparently our state legislators don’t know about this wonderful service available at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov. They will receive the name, address, date of birth, party, polling place and other information in a timely fashion.
Alas, our Republican state legislators aren’t content with this information. They now wish to subpoena driver’s license and Social Security numbers, too. They will hand all this data over to an as-yet unnamed contractor, with undefined security practices, to make sure there were no 2020 election shenanigans, despite having no evidence of substantive fraud.
As a previous victim of identity theft, I strongly object to the distribution of the additional personal information, which are key pieces used by “bad actors,” a phrase used by Sen. Jake Corman in his recent op-ed. Corman asserts that we must “make our election system stronger and more secure.” I would rather have my personal identifiers made stronger and more secure, thank you.
Catherine Alloway, Port Matilda
REALITY CHECK FOR REPUBLICANS
“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” This quote from the 1976 movie, “Network”, portrays a man who feels powerless. Fast forward to 2020-21, and the reign of Pennsylvania Republicans. Do we need to list, again, those suffering from the Republican war on women, people of color, people of anything other than male, white, hetero, and rich? Sorry, poor MAGAs, you only count for the grift.
At risk in Pennsylvania — voter information.
Public files include name, address, date of birth, voting history and district. Lawmakers may request who got and returned mail-in ballots.
Pennsylvania Republicans also demand, via subpoena, driver’s license number, social security number — last four digits, and voting records.
Why? To turn the information over to a sham company possibly to be hacked? This is criminal harassment — especially if it results in identity theft for thousands of Pennsylvanians.
Here’s a reality check, Republicans: You lost the Presidency in 2020. You lost because people did not vote for your policies.
Yeah, we’re mad; and like the man in the movie, we need to shout, email, tweet and VOTE against all the Pennsylvania Republicans who are trying to steal our votes and potentially our very identities.
Janet Friel, State College
PROTECT PRIVATE VOTER INFORMATION
On Sept. 15, in a party line vote, the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee subpoenaed the Department of State for information on the 2020 election. Part of that request includes information on 7 million Pennsylvania voters including names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, birth dates and partial social security numbers. The committee intends to turn the data over to an undisclosed third-party contractor for an undisclosed use.
Senator Jake Corman, ex-officio committee member, voted for those subpoenas.
While some of the information requested is publicly available and doesn’t require a subpoena, it is unclear why the committee needs the driver’s license, birth dates, and social security information, as they haven’t articulated any valid reason yet.
We do know that this is information that is extremely useful in identity theft. Also, the committee hasn’t said how the data will be protected. And, since they haven’t identified the third-party contractor, we have no way of evaluating that business’s ability or willingness to secure the data.
Regardless of your political party, or your view on the necessity of the Republican audit of the 2020 election, I hope you agree that giving your private information away to some unknown private company, for some poorly defined project, is a gross abuse of governmental power and the public trust placed in the legislature. Please contact Senator Corman at 814- 355-6046 and tell him you want your private information protected. And that, at a minimum, this part of the subpoena should be withdrawn immediately.
Helen M. Sheehy, Tyrone
The Reporter Online: Letter to editor: Honor our constitution by doing the right thing
By Judy Hughes, Blue Bell, 09/27/21
As I was watching a Norwegian thriller on Netflix, I noticed that Norway celebrates the signing of their country’s Constitution with a national holiday. Compare that to the United States which should have honored its founding document on September 17 but let the day pass without fanfare.
Instead, this week, we find ourselves dealing with a segment of our population who care nothing about preserving and honoring the framework of our American government. Just the opposite. From the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol which sought to disrupt the certification of the presidential election, to Republican efforts to grasp all the levers of state electoral power by putting their people in critical electoral positions such as Secretary of State, we see anti-democratic attempts to turn our country from a republic into a dictatorship. Phony “audits” of the 2020 election are being pursued in several states and voting machines are being compromised, requiring huge taxpayer expenditures to replace them.
Around the world in Hong Kong, Belarus and even Russia, citizens have taken to the streets to demand the kind of democracy that we now enjoy in our country, yet Republicans are willing to sacrifice our country’s hard-fought democratic form of government because a narcissistic TV “celebrity” tells them to.
Even this week, efforts are being made by Republicans in Pennsylvania to demand the turnover of millions of voters’ private information to them in order to better target voter manipulation.
What do we do? Choose one good action and do it.
The Reading Eagle: Letter: Pursuing election audit will accomplish nothing
By John Heffelfinger, Penn Township, 09/27/21
Editor:
I just finished writing to my state legislators, begging them to help stop any efforts to conduct an Arizona-like “forensic audit” of the 2020 presidential election here in Pennsylvania. I did this not only because I don’t believe there was any fraud but because these audits will do nothing towards restoring voter confidence — the very guise under which they are being promoted.
On Sept. 24 the results of the lengthy, money- and time-wasting audit in Arizona were finally revealed, and what did they find? In short, no evidence of fraud, a few more votes for Joe Biden and a few less for Donald Trump. And what did all this accomplish? Nothing. Why? Because after learning of the results, Trump continued to insist he was the victim of widespread fraud in Arizona. His followers will believe him, and the Arizona audit will yield nothing toward the restoration of faith in our electoral process. We really need to publicly identify and quash the real fraud that has compromised our elections.
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