State leaders fail miserably at crucial job
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6 is a victory for voters.
Assuming the three-day extension survives another court challenge, its practical impact is likely to be undercut by Harrisburg’s chronic inability to do its job on behalf of all Pennsylvanians.
It’s shameful that Republicans and Gov. Tom Wolf have failed to reach a compromise on the very simple task of prepping an avalanche of ballots for more efficient counting.
It should have been simple: Allowing mailed ballots to be opened, flattened, prepared for scanning — but neither scanned nor counted — in advance of Nov. 3. Counties across the state, red and blue alike, had sought to “pre-canvass” early arriving ballots in order to more efficiently and expeditiously tally voters’ choices on Nov. 3. But Harrisburg politicians abandoned these public servants and the public itself in fruitless pursuit of petty partisan advantage.
Pre-canvassing systems are in place in more than 30 states. Without these practical and secure preliminary steps, Pennsylvania election workers will not be able to open, let alone tabulate, a single mailed-in vote until 7 a.m. on Election Day.
Given that the state and its 20 electoral votes may well determine the outcome of the presidential race, and that COVID-19 has made many voters wary of potentially long lines and wait times at crowded polling places, one might think Republicans and Democrats would have wanted above all else to encourage voting and enable a speedy count.
This is the first presidential election in history involving widespread availability of voting by mail, and the first election in memory to be conducted during a deadly pandemic. Far more mail-in ballots than normal are being received at county election offices statewide. Over 2 million Pennsylvania voters have applied to vote by mail.
The circumstances of this year’s presidential election are unprecedented, and its consequences likely will be momentous. But what Harrisburg’s incompetence has offered the state’s voters is nothing but politics as usual.
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Synagogue healing
The way the news comes in waves that crest and crash can mean that something all-encompassing one minute can seem smaller and less important the further away it gets.
But an event that is important because of the pain it causes and the people it touches today is not less significant when the pain is less sharp — and the people have learned to breathe through it.
We know that because two years after the terror and heartbreak of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the waves that swept over us all have receded. [But] no one has forgotten that on Oct. 27, 2018, hatred stormed a place of worship and took the lives of 11 precious souls.
While there were immediate attempts to help the three congregations that worshipped in the synagogue with fundraising and awareness, what may be more amazing is the way in which the Jewish community of Pittsburgh has reached out to others at the same time.
“Last year, we did a lot of talking within our (Jewish) community about what is the authentic way to commemorate the date of the event,” said Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, based at a Pittsburgh Jewish Community Center. “Torah study and community service really hearken to the Jewish values around commemorating a loved one’s death or anyone’s death. So, as a community, how can we make sure that those are open and inviting for everybody, not just the Jewish community?”
It seems like too much to believe. How can people whose community was targeted in such a terrible way focus on the pain of others?
Because when the waves of tragedy roll in, they know how high the water can get, and they don’t want anyone else to drown in that kind of pain.
The lasting monument of the lives taken may not be the stones that mark their graves.
It might be the ripples of love, support and hope that reach others in their memory, for years to come.