Greetings all, Marybeth requested some talking points in response to the PA Supreme Court announcement yesterday. Here they are.
*** Weaken the Constitution for the convenience of the Government?
A bad idea. As Judge Pellegrini said in his decision in favor of Kuznik et al., "nothing justifies non-compliance with the
express mandates of the PA Constitution." What's next, do away with the inconvenience of trial by jury?
*** There
is an easy way out of this mess: optical scan of paper ballots. These provide a VVPR, are certified by the Dept. of State
of PA and (with marking devices for the disabled) satisfy HAVA. Economical, too.
*** Democracy is precious, and
verifiable elections are the cornerstone of democracy. Pennsylvania voters know this, and they are fully competent to vote on paper, or to use two machines on one election day. The real
question is, are our election systems competent to count the votes properly?
*** When the PA Supreme Court issues its opinion, you'll be able to see the contortions they had to
go through to unravel Pellegrini's excellent decision. It won't be pretty. Their decision is based on political considerations,
not legal considerations. That's not what courts are supposed to do.
*** Josef Stalin, Communist dictator, said
that what matters is not who casts the ballots, but who counts the ballots. He controlled a large country for a long time
and caused an enormous amount of suffering. Let's avoid this fate by counting our ballots in a transparent way.
***
Governor Rendell has endorsed voter-verified paper records. Keep up the good work, y'all. Remember, we have made real progress.
Pellegrini's decision is still a victory for us, even if we lost the most recent little battle. We are holding their feet
to the fire.
Stephanie Frank Singer
