News & Brews October 7, 2024
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Pa. high court will not decide some mail-in ballot issues before election
The AP reports, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined to step in and immediately decide issues related to mail-in ballots in the commonwealth with early voting already under way in the few weeks before the Nov. 5 election.” Specifically, the court “rejected a request … to stop counties from throwing out mail-in ballots that lack a handwritten date or have an incorrect date on the return envelope” and also “rejected a challenge by Republican political organizations to county election officials letting voters remedy disqualifying mail-in ballot mistakes….” The court will, however, “hear another GOP challenge to a lower court ruling requiring officials in one county to notify voters when their mail-in ballots are rejected, and allow them to vote provisionally on Election Day.”
Trump returns to Butler, Pa.
”Tens of thousands” of attendees came to Butler, Pa. on Saturday to see former President Trump visit the site of the first assassination attempt against him. The Tribune-Review reports, “Several speakers, including Trump, paused to honor Corey Comperatore, 50, of Buffalo Township, who was shot and killed while shielding his wife and daughters from gunfire at the July rally.” Also speaking at Saturday’s event were Republican VP nominee J.D. Vance and Elon Musk. In his speech, Trump said, “Twelve weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America. All we are all asking is that everyone goes out and votes. We got to win. We can’t let this happen to our country.”
Pa. ‘shatters’ election spending records
I know we keep saying Pennsylvania is THE key battleground state this year. But just in case anyone is still wondering, just look at the money. On Saturday, the Post-Gazette reported, “With a month to go before Nov. 5, a staggering $954 million has flooded into TV, radio and digital ads across the commonwealth — more money than any other state in an election cycle in U.S. history, according to AdImpact, a political ad-tracking firm.” That’s right. Nearly $1 billion. Just over half of this has been in the presidential race. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate race has seen nearly $320 million in advertising buys.
How the media ‘polls’ school choice
Spotlight PA has a new poll purporting to show that most Pennsylvanians oppose school vouchers. The story on the poll even takes aim at other polls showing support for school choice by criticizing how the polls frame the poll question. But Spotlight’s incomplete framing of the question is also questionable. “A proposal in Pennsylvania would use $100 million in taxpayer money to establish a voucher program that sends public school students to private or religious schools. Would you approve or disapprove of such a proposal.” First, the “program” wouldn’t send any students anywhere. Parents and families would. Second, vouchers, as debated in Pa., would also be able to be used for special education services fees in addition to tuition at non-public schools. Third, the proposed vouchers would be available to students trapped by zip code in the worst-performing schools in the commonwealth, a fact Spotlight conveniently omits. Here’s another poll for Spotlight: Americans distrust the media.
‘A Jewish woman in suburban Philly: One year later’
On the one-year anniversary of the horrific Hamas terror attacks on Israel, Amanda Greenberg, a self-described “Jewish mother and teacher who resides in the southeastern Pennsylvania suburbs,” reflects on the rise of antisemitism, her prayers for the future, and her reasons for hope.