Op-ed by Senator Maria Collett
With just days until Election Day, all eyes are on swing states like Pennsylvania.
Here, every vote is an opportunity to make a difference and fight for your values, both at the presidential level and in hotly contested state legislative races. In 2022, the closest state House race was decided by only 63 votes. Today, the state House is narrowly controlled by Democrats, 102-101, while the Senate is controlled by Republicans, 28-22.
With nail-biting races up and down the ballot – and misleading, often dangerous election rumors flying – it’s more important than ever that Pennsylvania voters can be confident in our election systems and make our voices heard at the ballot box. The stakes for Pennsylvanians are higher than ever – especially when we remember right-wing extremists’ baseless crusade to challenge the 2020 election and know that they are already taking steps to undermine your vote in November’s election.
Pennsylvania was one of seven states targeted by Trump loyalists’ “fake electors” scheme to overturn the will of the voters and President Biden’s victory.
After the election, state Senate Republican leaders tried to subpoena nine million Pennsylvanians’ personal voting records as part of a groundless investigation of the Biden-Trump race in continuation of the “Big Lie.” Their actions caused years of litigation and taxpayer dollars to be wasted all in an attempt to sow doubt about our elections and further please the interests of Trump and his voters.
And in 2021, Republican leaders in the state Senate refused to swear in Democrat Jim Brewster, who had won a close but definitive victory in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. He was later seated after a federal court reaffirmed the legitimacy of his 69-vote victory.
As the Speaker of the House, Joanna McClinton, wrote in a recent op-ed, “If your vote wasn’t valuable, people wouldn’t be trying to take your right to vote away.”
As I said during the controversy surrounding Senator Brewster, just because an election is close does not mean it is illegitimate. On the contrary, it highlights that in a democracy, every single vote makes a difference, and the voters – not politicians or judges – have the final word.
Our elections are secure and administered by local election officials, folks who are our friends and neighbors, who believe in the promise of America and all that we can accomplish through our democracy. They do this work so we know we can have faith in the results.
In the countdown to Election Day, Pennsylvania will continue to be swamped by candidates, campaign ads and solicitations of all kinds – some honest, some misleading, some seeking to get out the vote, and others to suppress it. But the voting process itself is overseen by a hardworking team of nonpartisan election experts who have been preparing for months for this grand exercise of democracy.
We can’t let fabricated rumors from right-wing politicians undermine that. The best way to protect the future of our democracy is to be active participants in it, voting for representatives who will protect your voice, not silence it.
Make a plan to vote and stick to that plan. Find your polling place or secure ballot drop box at www.vote.pa.gov.
By showing up and making our voices heard, we’re playing a direct role in the development of our country, our Commonwealth and our communities.
Here, in Pennsylvania, your vote is protected, and your vote matters. Now, it’s time to decide how you will cast that vote: your most valuable asset in our democracy.