Like it or not, the administration of elections is a core county function. The state legislature decides things voter ID, mail-in ballots and early voting. The county has no say in those matters but is in complete control of the selection of voting systems used. The county recruits, trains and pays a small army of poll workers before each election. It staffs the polls on election day, accepts the returns on election night and conducts the official canvass. Unfortunately, a dark cloud was cast over the elections in 2019 and 2023 because of issues with machine configuration (2019) and coding (2023). In response to these human errors, Council member John Goffredo suggested the formation of an election oversight committee late year. All nine Council members agreed. But when it met on June 18, Council member Jeff Warren suggested that it be abolished.
Warren fears that the committee could be weaponized by members who dislike the results, even if an election is fair. He also claims the term "election integrity" is some sort of MAGA code for rolling back many of the reforms (mail-ins, drop boxes, etc.) that our then GOP legislature endorsed. That probably is true in some instances. Council member John Goffredo betrayed some of these views at the County Council meeting the very next day, even though county government has no say in these matters. But in my view, the term "election integrity" is a Socratic ideal that we may never completely achieve, but which we should all strive to find. I care very little about the debunked arguments advanced by election deniers but care very much that the public have complete and utter confidence that its county is doing all it can to ensure that you can vote and that it is counted. Until the Dawn of Donald, The Democracy Denier, both Democrats and Republicans held that belief.
Warren who incidentally has less than six months of experience on County Council, was reminded of two botched elections in the sport span of four years. "We're not necessarily creating committees every time there is a slight mishap in county government." he pontificated.
Warren is completely wrong on several counts. These were no slight mishaps. They were major errors that could have been far worse, and what did happen was bad enough. He did not sit through the meetings that followed, in which members of the public made very clear that they had lost all respect for the county and our system. Warren's dishonest attempt to minimize these problems is a slap across the faces of the public. It sullies the reputation of Executive McClure, who admitted to and took steps to prevent these problems from recurring. It betrays his own complete lack of understanding of County Council's role. It is there to provide oversight of everything done by the county, even the county courts. Most county committees are oversight committees.
Ironically, the need for better election security was demonstrated the very next night when Executive McClure pointed out that the office is scattered over five locations.
Who is this Warren anyway? Sounds like a crook to me. An election crook, that is. How the hell did this guy get elected to council. I have no confidence in the intelligence of my fellow county citizens.
ReplyDeleteAsk people he has worked with in government over the years. He is known as a big dummy. His saving grace is hie ties to some bigtime Pols. Other than that, all wind and no substance.
ReplyDeleteSo, is this Election Committee a proactive or reactive group? Probably, a little of both. Either way, such a body should be of no harm and is only beneficial. Surely, such a team’s activities do not place a financial strain on the County budget. I say, let it continue.
ReplyDeleteAs to whether election theories are shown to have been likely true, or likely untrue, it was an “integrity team” of some sort that played a role. Our election process, at best, has been muddled by rapid change. Oversight is a good thing.
Looking outside our little Northampton County, Americans have seen a high amount of election problems on a much bigger scale. We don’t always hear of those challenges, but several were big enough to change final vote tallies. For some of those, I wouldn’t use the term debunked, but rather, further inspection DECLINED. Proven one way or the other? Not always.
Election denying worse than attempting to jail your political opponent? WTF. Bizarro world.
ReplyDeleteNorco voters need to look in the mirror. They will see the root cause of the problem. They keep electing kooks on each side. If it wasn't so sad it would be funny. I'm glad I moved away from there over 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteMoved away 20 years ago and still commenting about your previous home? Sounds like you're a loser.
DeleteRemember when Warren, Keegan and Kraft started a coup to try and usurp the vote of council to push Paul Anthony into the vacant Council position?? Not surprising a guy that doesn’t respect a legal voting process wants to get rid of the election integrity committee.
ReplyDeleteI think the Bigotry is Goffredo’s anti-LGBTQ stance.
ReplyDeleteOf course the point was missed. He said this resolution didn’t belong at the county level. County should be dealing with county business. Pride month already exist. It’s just another one of Keegan’s leftist woke political approve this or you hate speeches. Has she ever brought up anything that benefits the people of Northampton County? This rubber stamp needs to melt away. Pathetic.
DeleteIt’s funny that people here trash Warren when anything that Goffredo is saying should be looked at carefully.
ReplyDeleteI don’t recall Mr. Warren ever using the word abolish, he said he thought the name of the committee was concerning, and he questioned whether the committee should have been created since there was a governance committee. But I don’t recall him ever saying it should be an abolished. That committee’s name was created by Mr. Goofredo, who is an election denier, and he purposely used integrity in its name to pour gasoline on a Republican fire.
ReplyDeleteI watched the committee meetings on YouTube. Warren never said he wants to abolish the committee. He had a fear it could be used to politicize future elections and said another committee could handle election matters.
ReplyDeleteLiberal ying to the MAGA yang. Things get done in the center.
ReplyDeleteEven if he's wrong, at least Warren is bringing up county-related issues; unlike some who snivel about matters that do not fall under county council's realm.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what MAGA voters claim, actual incidents of voter fraud are extremely rare. Those instances that have come to light in the aftermath of the 2020 election are nowhere near widespread enough to swing a presidential election, let alone most down-ballot races.
Many of the cases of fraud that have been prosecuted since that election have been against Republicans.
Right-wing grifters have insisted fraud is rampant among Democrats. In reality, many of those supposed cases are the entirely legitimate use of drop boxes and other approved early voting techniques in areas that lean Democratic. Other Trump supporters have been caught trying to vote more than once, including multiple residents at Florida’s retirement community The Villages. Still others have been caught trying to cast votes in the names of their dead spouses or family members, one of whom was initially a right-wing cause célèbre after claiming someone had stolen his dead wife’s absentee ballot. And just last month, a former election official in Milwaukee was found guilty of voter fraud for using her position to get obtain fraudulent absentee ballots and send them to a Republican state lawmaker who’d boosted Trump’s election lies.
More often though, we’ve seen that votes cast illegally not because of deliberate fraud, but due to constraints on voting rights for the formerly incarcerated. Crystal Mason, a Texas woman whose five-year sentence for voter fraud was recently overturned by an appeals court, testified that when she cast a ballot in 2018 that she was unaware that she was ineligible to vote. And since Florida formed its Office of Election Crimes and Security in 2022, most of its targets have likewise been people who’d voted after being told that they were allowed to do so only to learn otherwise when arrested.
“Warren is completely wrong on several counts.”
ReplyDeleteWords we’ll be reading for years to come.
"I watched the committee meetings on YouTube. Warren never said he wants to abolish the committee. He had a fear it could be used to politicize future elections and said another committee could handle election matters."
ReplyDeleteYour own comment basically establishes that he wants to abolish the election integrity committee. But what really bothers me is his attempt to rewrite history and minimize the fiascos of 2019 and 2023. We don't need that kind of dishonesty.
I decline to publish claims of drinking against Warren, They are frankly just getting sickening.
ReplyDelete"Election denying worse than attempting to jail your political opponent? WTF. Bizarro world."
ReplyDeleteBiden has made no such attempt, and making such a claim is a lie. Moreover, No one is above the law.
Thanks for fixing the"county" typo.
ReplyDeleteThe junior high schooler inside me was giggling.
"Thanks for fixing the"county" typo.
ReplyDeleteThe junior high schooler inside me was giggling."
Mom, you need to let that kid go...
How do you get on this oversight committee? Do they still need people? I would love to do something like that.
ReplyDeleteHow do you get on this oversight committee? Do they still need people? I would love to do something like that.
ReplyDeleteI rejected a comment suggesting that mail-in ballots are essentially the root of all evil. That is absurd, and it is completely irrelevant to this topic, which focuses on what a county (not state) can do. Also, my argument is far from "political," as you dishonestly characterize it while blasting away at a system that bothers you mostly bc it increases DEM turnout. That's about as political as you can get.
ReplyDelete7:49, Run for County Council.
ReplyDeleteMy personal observation so far is that Mr. Warren a. does not answer directed questions or concerns from those he represents on council and b. is in lock step voting wise (most notably about the abortion proposal) with Kraft and Keegan. God helps us in Northampton County. I miss Mr. Cusick and his wisdom.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Warren called explicitly for the committee to be abolished, but that’s the logical conclusion of his remarks. And, since it was established for election denier J. P. Goofredo it should be abolished.
ReplyDeleteJeff Warren is a gentleman and a scholar. And, besides there are little hundreds of people alive today in the Lehigh Valley due to all of the blood he’s donated.
ReplyDeleteWarren is right. Reading your post it’s clear John Goffredo is an election denier.
ReplyDelete