Election law practitioners say a new procedure for filing objections to signatures on candidates’ nominating papers will streamline a process that has been a cause of confusion for the courts and skyrocketing costs for litigants.
In a notice to the election bar July 30, the Commonwealth Court outlined an option for litigants challenging the nomination papers of national and statewide candidates to file their objections in an electronic format as well as the usual paper copies. read more »
Read the commissioner’s letter for a good look at scapegoating, but more importantly read Ray Murphy’s analysis:
I can’t wait for these election results to be made public.More importantly, I hope this is a wake-up call to Mayor Nutter, who has publicly supported the public’s access to voting records, and to Council that we need:
a) much more scrutiny on the current Commissioner’s office, especially in this critical election year to make sure that all staff there are focused on making voting as easy as possible and are being as creative as possible to do so and read more »
When ‘‘Hardball’‘ host Chris Matthews hinted in April at his interest in a 2010 Senate bid, it put a scare into the staff of his prospective opponent, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.For good reason. The talk show host trails the five-term Republican by only 5 percentage points in a hypothetical match-up, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. Specter’s seat is up for election in two years.
Specter, 78, leads Matthews by 41 percent to 36 percent, with 19 percent undecided, the poll of 1,580 Pennsylvania voters found. Conducted from July 30 to Sunday, it has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
He’ll be 80 during his next campaign.
Two weeks after finishing a grueling, three- month regimen of chemotherapy treatments, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said today that his prognosis for recovery from Hodgkin’s disease is “excellent.”The Philadelphia Republican, who has served longer than any senator from Pennsylvania in Senate history, said he fully intends to seek election to a sixth term in 2010.
Philly’s election results are currently behind a password-protected wall. Help open up citizen information!
Here is the basic idea: If the City Commissioners want to plead technological incompetence, we are going to use the ruling from the City Solicitor to force their hand. If we can get 25, or 50, or 100 people to request their own passwords, the Commissioners will be forced to make a decision: Take the small, easy step of putting election results online for all Philadelphians, or take away electronic access for their buddies.Which do you think they will choose? read more »
If Onorato were any other pol, the new Whiskey Rebellion brewing in his backyard might be just another in a line of standard political headaches — albeit one that comes complete with a lawsuit and a petition drive for a November referendum seeking to overturn the wildly unpopular drinks levy.But Onorato isn’t just another pol. He’s a Democratic golden boy and an all-but-declared candidate for governor in 2010. In a state where Yuengling and Iron City compose two-thirds of the trinity, any effort to mess with voters’ favorite tipple is fraught with peril. read more »
After nearly losing to a political rookie in 2000, then-House Majority Leader John Perzel found a way to survive in elections to come: he had his Northeast Philadelphia district redrawn.The result resembled a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the floor, with the pieces containing the maximum number of increasingly scarce city Republicans – people likely to vote for a guy like him. The GOP legislator has not faced a close race since.
Or take the 1991 case of State Sen. Frank Pecora, who woke one morning shocked to find that his district in the Pittsburgh suburbs had been uprooted and replanted 230 miles east in Chester County. read more »
Pennsylvanians could have fewer dinnertime interruptions and automatic political messages waiting on their answering machines under a bill approved by the state Senate on Wednesday.The measure would allow people to block automatic telephone calls, or ‘‘robocalls,’‘ by political campaigns, parties and organizations. The bill, which passed 48-1, now goes to the House of Representatives, where similar measures are awaiting a vote.
Under the bill, a person wishing to block recorded political calls would have to specify that they want their telephone number to appear on a ‘‘do-not-call’‘ list to be maintained by the attorney general’s office or another state agency. read more »
I can’t say I’m surprised by this decision. Regardless of what anyone says, the decision to require photo ID for voters is purely political. Ditto the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in this matter.
As someone who has a better-than-average knowledge and understanding of election law, I have to tell you that photo ID requirements are solutions in search of problems.
In PA, we all have to sign a poll book or voter’s certificate before we actually cast our ballots. Yup, it is kind of hard to impersonate somebody if you can’t forge their signature. read more »
Just days before the deadline to register and vote, Pennsylvania has shut down its registration Web site because a design flaw left vulnerable personal information of people who had used it.
Department of State spokeswoman Rebecca Halton said the State Department learned of the glitch on Tuesday and shut down the site. Monday is the deadline to register. The site remained down this morning.
“The department learned information submitted by some users through the SURE system may have been viewed by other online users,” Halton said. read more »
Karl Rove suspects some members of the sold-out crowd coming to see him tonight at the University of Pittsburgh might only be interested in seeing if he has horns and a tail.“I always get the occasional lunatic ranting and raving, but most people want to hear what I have to say and want to ask questions,” the former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to President George W. Bush said Sunday. “That is when we get engaged in a dialogue about things they want to know about, like the war, terrorist surveillance, tax cuts and the future of our economy.”
A statewide grand jury yesterday accused a former Erie legislator and her chief of staff of forging the signatures on her 2006 nominating petitions.Linda Bebko-Jones, a Democrat who served seven terms in the state House, and Mary Fiolek, who ran Mrs. Bebko-Jones’s office and oversaw her campaigns, face arraignment in Harrisburg next week.
A statewide grand jury sitting in Pittsburgh said the pair combed an Erie telephone directory as well as Mrs. Bebko-Jones’s personal address book to put together 300 signatures needed to get on the primary ballot.
Special Agent Jack Brickner of the state attorney general’s office told grand jurors that he questioned persons whose names appeared on the petitions. read more »
It’s an impressive amount for any Lehigh Valley pol, but it barely gets him in the door for a 2010 bid.
Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham raised nearly a half-million dollars last year as he considers running for governor, but he still trails other potential Democratic candidates.Cunningham started 2007 with about $800 in his campaign account and raised about $489,000, according to his year-end report filed Wednesday in Harrisburg. He spent about $66,000, leaving a balance of about $423,000.
Political robo-calls — automated phone messages that interrupt daily life — could be eliminated or avoided under bills up for votes this week.The House and Senate state government committees are considering separate measures to ban robo-calls or to amend the state’s Do-Not-Call registry so consumers can block them. Such calls now are exempt from the list.
‘‘They need to be treated as an abuse,’‘ Sen. Michael O’Pake, D-Berks, said at a Capitol news conference, where he called on his colleagues for action before the presidential race comes to Pennsylvania.
Is it just me, or is it a slow news morning?
“I’ve been smitten by the bug,” Wolf said during an interview in his Strawberry Square office that offers expansive views of the Capitol, Susquehanna River and what might be his new aspiration: The governor’s office.After years of trying to influence public policy from the periphery by supporting candidates who support education, the environment and revitalizing the state’s older communities and charitable contributions, Wolf found he loved his latest career in state government.
Knowing he’ll be out of a job in 2010, it’s caused him to rethink his future, including whether to run for governor. read more »
Our blogroll lists some of our very favorite blogs around the state. Since we can't fit them all in this column, check out our full blogroll to see the entire list.
Are we missing anyone? E-mail us to add to the list!
Our on-site coverage of the 2008 Democratic Convention, including live video updates from the convention floor, begins Friday!
Let's face it
Anonymous (1 hour ago)
sham
Anonymous (1 hour ago)
Obama signs
Anonymous (13 hours ago)
McCain's cowardice
Anonymous (13 hours ago)
Newspapers
Polls
We’ve developed a participation policy to help guide the tone of discussion in our community. Please read it to learn more about participating in Keystone Politics.
