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Friday, June 21, 2019

Cusick Bashes Harrisburg Over Refusal to Fund Voting Machines

John Cusick
John Cusick, who represents District Three on Northampton County Council, is a Republican. He nevertheless bashed Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled state legislature at last night's meeting of County Council over their reluctance to commit any funds to help counties purchase new voting machines. "The most critical thing we do is preserve our democracy," he argued. "Voting machines are part of that."

Last year, in response to a lawsuit, Pennsylvania's Department of State directed all 67 counties to select new voting systems that include a voter verifiable paper trail, making post-election audits more accurate. They must be in place before the 2020 primary. Though the statewide cost of his change is estimated at $125 million to $150 million, the state has yet to provide any of the funding. The federal government has provided a $342,000 grant to Northampton County.

In May, Northampton County Council approved the $2.9 million purchase of a new touchscreen voting system with a voter-verified paper trail. County officials expect to have it in place for November's election.

Governor Tom Wolf has proposed giving counties $15 million a year for the next five years to help them make this purchase. Republicans in the land of midnight payraises, however, claim this is Wolf's problem, not theirs.

"This was a crisis that the governor created, and he needs to resolve it," said Senate Majority leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) in an interview with WITF. "I feel bad for the counties, because he put a huge unfunded mandate on the counties, but that's his responsibility."

In order to stick it to Wolf, Republicans in Harrisburg are perfectly willing to stick it to counties.

"We've acted in good faith, it's time for the legislature to do the same," said the Williams Township algebra teacher.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 21, 2019 at 3:15 AM

    He gave a speech. How is this news?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 21, 2019 at 7:08 AM

    NorCo is a blue county. Wolf is its guy by two landslides. If you thought you were electing something different, you're in denial. Live with him and the shit he dumps on you. He's your guy. You love him. And isn't fiscal conservative Cusick ther guy who wouldn't admit a fee was a tax last year? Maybe he should sit this one out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 21, 2019 at 7:52 AM

    So they made the purchase on a mandate without the money? If the State mandated it then don't buy till you have the money

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 21, 2019 at 8:17 AM

    it's called an unfunded Mandate, do you even read?

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJune 21, 2019 at 5:42 PM

    YOYOYOBO, heard your girl Zirinski suggested we give the voting machines back if we don't get state money. Is that true. Did she really suggest we not comply with the law and even return the new machines for a refund???

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bernie O'HareJune 22, 2019 at 12:18 AM

    Something along those lines. She is not a stupid person. A few weeks before, she seemed aware that this is an unfounded mandate. My guess is she stumbled a bit.

    ReplyDelete

You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.