Like it or not, no-excuse mail-in balloting is here to stay in Pennsylvania. Because of Donald Trump's disdain, most Republicans eschew this way of making their voices heard. They prefer voting in-person on election day. So mail-in ballots are about 70% Democratic. So far, Republican candidates have campaigned as though the only election is the one taking place at the polls. They have failed to make any attempt to reach out to voters until the final two weeks before the election. By then, it's too late. Many Democrats and independents will have already voted by mail or by taking advantage of early voting. So those mailers and last-minute ads in the waning days of a campaign are a waste of money. One Republican, State Rep. Joe Emrick, has apparently caught on and is sending out mailers now.
Emrick represents the newly configured Pa.-137th, which now is much more Democratic than it's been for the past 10 years. It's a toss-up district.
In a purple county like Northampton, the only way a Republican can win is by peeling away some Democratic and independent voters. But these voters have to know who you are. You can knock on doors or send campaign mailers, but that does you no good if Democrats and Independents have already voted.
Emrick, who has been a state rep for the past 12 years, has already sent out five mailers in his bid for re-election. It might seem like overkill, but this is exactly what he needs to do if he wants to peel away a few Democrats and Independents in the mail-in campaign. Besides, he has money to burn. He was sitting on over $204,000 in the last reporting period.
I have often voted for Republicans, but not Emrick. He fails my first and most important test. He lacks transparency. He refuses to return calls or respond to emails.
His opponent in this year's election is Anna Thomas. I will tell you about her tomorrow.
41 comments:
here we go again cheating on a grand scale by the democrats because nobody with a sound mind can vote for a democrat.
Mail-in balloting is for liars, cheats and crooks. And I'd believe that even if we'd never heard of Donald Trump.
Drop boxes are unsecured and dirty. We should evolve like our European friends and require ID and in-person voting. They learned. We're a little slow at most things. They don't accept dirty elections. We do.
Bernie, quick question. Does no excuse mail in voting make our elections MORE or LESS secure? I know it makes it more convenient for people....but is that really what we are going for?
Finding out election results weeks later and being told you already voted when you show up to the polls is not how confidence in our elections are gained.
Act 77 was a mistake and should be repealed.
I cringe every time I see his meathead sticking out of my mailbox.
Emrick is an arrogant back-bencher!
I now find my self once again being represented by Emrick. Moved to Palmer from the Slate Belt to escape that R nightmare. I know all too well Emrick's tactics and secrecy and as you say..his non-transparency. He is above such mundane things. I will be voting for Anna Thomas as she has been knocking on doors here as we were confused as to which district we were now relegated to by the gerrymandering of the PA legislature. Just say NO! to Joe!
Nothing changes?
Drop boxes are certainly unsecure. They are susceptible to evil voters who harvest ballots from their wives and drop them off. I see zero evidence of any ballot harvesting at drop boxes. Ballot harvesting does happen, and it could include illegal pressure on voters or buying votes. This is what happens at the polling place, too. If you really want to stop all voter fraud, you should just stop elections like you want to ensure that only fascists are in office.
And incidentally, you totally miss the point. While railing against mail-in balloting, Democrats are using it to vote. Their candidates are campaigning. Your crew is waiting until it's too late. Congrats, moron.
Mail in's were a R initiative. They wanted it and pushed it thru..now since it does not gain them any advantage...they want to scrap it and crap on it! R's are evil people.
You didnt answer the question. Does mail in ballots increase or decrease the security and validity of our elections? Pretty sure wanting fair and secure elections isnt fascist...but then again asking people who suffer from TDS to answer a question rationally is pretty impossible.
Emrick is a waste of space, always was. I used to be in his district and hope that he never draws a paycheck from my taxes again (although he'll be drawing 2 state pensions if he's ousted), 1 as a former teacher and 1 as a former PA legislator. Don't know if he was a decent teacher or not, but as a legislator he was an arrogant ass without an original thought.
Bernie you are the moron voting for Biden and his anti America crew.
So truck drivers and lumberjacks and soldiers shouldn’t be allowed to vote? Not everyone has a cushy office job where they’re home every day.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Mail in's were a R initiative. They wanted it and pushed it thru..now since it does not gain them any advantage...they want to scrap it and crap on it! R's are evil people.
You beat me to it, but don't let facts get in the way of a good Lie told by tRump and pushed by weak minded individuals such as S Lynch the buffoon
Mail ins are great,
the Rs can't find postage stamps in their trailers under all the garbage and Free housing vouchers and food stamp cards
"You didnt answer the question. Does mail in ballots increase or decrease the security and validity of our elections? Pretty sure wanting fair and secure elections isnt fascist"
I've answered that question 1,000 times. MIBs are secure, confidential and trustworthy. Your real problem with it is that you fascists have refused to take advantage of it, and have tghus suffered the consequences. Before Trump came along, both Rs and Ds voted in states that had MIBs with no issues. It is only his conspiracy theories that conned you.
His real problem is that Trump (and you) know that anything that expands voter turnout is generally disfavored by Rs. Your real problem is democracy.
By the way, I have no problem with voter ID.
https://news.columbia.edu/in-mail-absentee-ballots-secure-vote-election
https://www.nytimes.com/article/fact-checking-mail-in-voting.html
There is obviously appropriate situations for mail in voting. And glad to see Bernie you believe in ID voter verification. But could someone explain to me why the press and everyone seems to think republicans want to take away our right to vote? It's a fear tactic and not substantiated in fact. The right to vote is basic to our democracy and I know of not one Republican who wants to limit anyone's ability except illegals who have yet to earn the right to vote here.
9:32
TDS was named after Trump because it is he that is deranged.
Much like ALS has been named Lou Gerhigs Disease...no offense too Lou.
The wife and I are up in years and L-O-V-E the MIB. The last time I stood in line was for the 2016 general. It was a long wait, and I had to listen to a Republican cracker the whole time.
@John G 9:32AM
"Does mail in ballots increase or decrease the security and validity of our elections?"
The answer is neither. Every method of voting has some risk and exposure to abuse and potential trickery.
LUCKILY - We have smart people in the right places that know what to look for which makes in nearly impossible for it to be done on a massive scale and turn elections one way or the other.
Crying about election fraud is like being afraid of the boogeyman under your bed. Its all in your imagination...
As Bernie has stated, MIB's have been used in other states for years without incident. Trump has sown the seeds of doubt with his ridiculous claim that at the end of the election night he was ahead and then "suddenly" all these ballots for Dems appear and so he should have won. Yeah dipstick, it takes a lot longer to count and process MIB's. Democrats used them to vote much more than Repubs...Repubs were free to do otherwise but didn't. If you want results on election night, then we should have what other states with MIB's have, pre-canvassing of MIB's as they come in a week or so ahead of election day. Repubs in PA are fighting this because they can keep beating the dead horse narrative that Trump started.
I purposely vote by mail to make the heads explode on those who oppose it. It's my one little guilty pleasure since I don't have any vices.
VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN, AND HARVEST GENEROUSLY, DEMOCRATS!!!
Because no one would mess the voting machines......heaven for bid. Whoops!
A republican gets caught.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L55rb_N3Evo
9:14- Absolutely. They didn't realize that Trumpy Dumpty was going to bash MIB after losing bigly in 2020. It was a Republican initiative. Now every snowflake pleads not guilty after the avalanche.
There is no such thing as voter fraud. So MIB are good for all of us.
BTW 12:11 WAKE UP! Who has started redistricting? Gerrymandering?
It starts with an R.
I am willing travelling professional. I too love the MIB option. Democracy works when voting is accessible. Frankly, time for common people to push back on this that propate whatever Qspiraxy tend to represent. Patriots don't create barriers to voting.
746 here. Forget the deep state. I am haunted by word prediction and autocorrect. My regrets.
What a wussy.
What did they do before?
They used MIB but had to provide an excuse. Now, the only difference is that everyone can do MIB and not have to come up with some flimsy excuse. There really is no difference other that it's helping Democrats and MAGA's are losing their collective sht.
Years ago, when Former Republican Lehigh County Executive Jane Baker opened the The Lehigh County Government Center at 7th and Hamilton, she insisted that it stay open late (until 7pm) so that "her base" could access government services after normal working hours and not have to take off from work. She was notorious for the mentality that Republicans work, Democrats are on welfare.
After, several weeks of paying employees overtime to keep the Government Center open late, she famously remarked, "This was the worst idea I ever had. The only people who have come in to register to vote after hours, have registered as Democrats.".
She then shut the government doors at 5pm.
I love mail in voting. I want to vote and shouldn't have to stand in line to do it like waiting in the bathroom line at Musikfest. Both parties can take part in it. By the way, every ballot and envelope is numbered and accounted for so it can be checked for authenticity. No one knows who got what number ballot. I say do away with in person voting and let all have the convenience of mail in voting. In this day and age there is no reason to wait in line and have taxpayers foot the bill for poll places staffing and security. Standing in line does not make you a patriot.
I think the right to vote is so precious it deserves a little effort...like standing in line if you physically can and aren't in the military overseas . Not much to ask for freedom and such a sacred right . That's part of the problem with our country today. It's all about me and no inspiration or effort.
It's people like 1:41am why I use MIB. I don't even like listening to him/her on LR Ramblings; imagine having to stand in line next to this blowhard and hear the rattling thoughts expressed out loud.
I'm guessing (based on an educated guess and linguistic fingerprint) that this comment was made by Steve Lynch or that woman from West Easton.
Horse Crap. Walking in to vote is a “ litmus test “ of sorts . One s devotion to vote. IDs should be required and absentee voters should military and infirmary patients only.
We are all forgetting about the false electors who tried to mail in their ballots. To help make Mail in balloting more secure they should start at the top and go after these scum of democracy. Personally I think they all should be executed for acts against the United States but I would settle for putting them initial and immediately for 5 years per the law signed by their failure of an orange leader which they sold their lives for. They also shoudl be ban forever from ever being allowed to be a politicians, associated with any politician and or ever working in any way for any organization who get any governmental benefit. Until those people get their lives altered by incarceration all the other sleazes' who attempt it will feel like they can get away with it too.
Trump’s fake electors: Here’s the full list
https://www.azmirror.com/2022/06/29/updated-trumps-fake-electors-heres-the-full-list/
Bill Bachenberg*:
Lou Barletta:
Tom Carroll:
Ted Christian:
Chuck Coccodrilli:
Bernadette Comfort:
Sam DeMarco III:
Marcela Diaz-Myers:
Christie DiEsposti:
Josephine Ferro:
Charlie Gerow:
Kevin Harley:
Leah Hoopes:
Ash Khare:
Andre McCoy:
Lisa Patton*:
Pat Poprik:
Andy Reilly:
Suk Smith:
Calvin Tucker:
Slated to sign but replaced:
Robert Asher:
Lawrence Tabas:
Thomas Marino:
Lance Stange:
Carolyn Welsh:
Christine Toretti: T
Robert Gleason:
@4;20 OMG I guess you are just a guru of spew. Trump U credentials of being self proclaimed greatness. Your linguistic prowess tells me you a MAGAright in disguise.
@7:09 so what do you do about all the sleaze bag politicians who vote by mail?
Soooo... Baker's extended hours policy wasn't to assist "all" Lehigh County residents; only her constituents. Once it backfired, she changed her policy? Sounds like the current state of the Republican MIB initiative.
BTW, Baker was an absolute monster as County Executive who surrounded herself with other like-minded monsters, like Fulmer and Merlo (personally hand picked and appointed that monster as OCYS Solicitor). That's some sound decision making there.
My experience with Mr. Emrick has been positive. I'm more of an independent voter so I don't look at the letter after the name. His constituency services are great. His office helped me with some veterans issues. He has good info for the elderly and what programs are out there. That's what matters most in state government, not whether they are R or D.
I can assure you, he was a horrible teacher, his “lessons” were literally word for word from the textbook. I think that calling him a teacher is actually an insult to the hardworking men and women that take educating our youth seriously.
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