Voting law changes come with a cost

Gov. Tom Wolf has signed into law the most significant revision to Pennsylvania election laws in about 80 years.

Gov. Tom Wolf has signed into law the most significant revision to Pennsylvania election laws in about 80 years. With one exception, the new law truly constitutes reform.

The law eliminates Pennsylvania’s status as the state with the most restrictive laws regarding absentee voting and, therefore, holds the promise of vastly increasing voting access.

Beginning next year, voters no longer will need an excuse to get an absentee ballot. That, in effect, means that anyone can vote by mail in any or every election.

Even better, the law expands the window to obtain and return absentee ballots. The application deadline is reduce to 15 days before the election from 30 days and, most important, allows the ballot to be returned up to 8 p.m. on Election Day instead of 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election. That will result in thousands more votes being counted rather than disqualified, ending Pennsylvania’s ranking as the state with the highest level of absentee rejections. And it is even more important in light of changes regarding absentee ballots.

Unfortunately, those improvements come at the cost of a regressive measure — elimination of straight-party voting. That likely will reduce the vote count in down-ballot races, which was the objective of Republican lawmakers who insisted on the measure in exchange for actual reforms. The administration carefully should monitor that voting and be prepared to move for straightticket restoration.

The bill also authorizes borrowing of up to $90 million to help counties pay for secure new voting systems required by the administration in response to a federal mandate. Statewide, the new systems for 67 counties will cost between $125 million and $148 million.

Lawmakers also agreed to provide $4 million to help prepare for the 2020 census, but they should reconsider and provide the full $13 million recommended by a commission that studied the issue. According to the administration, each uncounted resident will cost the state $2,100 in federal money, which is distributed according to census figures. The census is a nonpartisan matter, and lawmakers of both parties should ensure that the state is not subjected to a costly under-count.

— The Citizens’ Voice, The Associated Press

Limit online video time

If it seems as though the kids are watching a lot more videos online than they were just a few years ago, appearances are reality. New research shows the typical American youth is spending an hour every day viewing online videos.

The news is unlikely to surprise any parent who has tried to pry a child away from YouTube or other sites with video content.

One of the many problems with this, according to Common Sense Media, the group that produced the study, is that much of the video content kids stumble across online is not appropriate for children and teens.

The study is yet another warning to adults to closely monitor children’s digital viewing habits. And it should also be a wake-up call to regulators and YouTube executives about the need to develop better filters and technology.

Common Sense Media compiled its report after surveying more than 1,600 participants between the ages of 8 and 18, asking them about their video-viewing habits.

Fifty-six percent of 8-yearolds to 12-year-olds and 69% of 13-year-olds to 18-year-olds reported watching online videos every day. Those figures are up from 24% and 34%, respectively, in 2015.

One bit of good news in the report is that while more children have a daily video habit, their overall screen time remains roughly the same as it was in 2015 with kids ages 8 to 12 spending an average four hours and 44 minutes on digital devices a day and teens ages 13 to 18 spending seven hours and 22 minutes on them.

These statistics do not count time children spent using devices to do their homework, read books or listen to music.

The children whose parents and grandparents were likely chided for spending too much time in front of the television now have increasingly less interest in traditional television or streaming programs, favoring online videos instead.

The Common Sense Media study ought to be another reminder for families to prioritize real-world, non-digital activities together and to limit screen time overall.

— The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Associated Press