Kathleen O’Connell

Lemont

I’m a poll worker, like thousands of other Pennsylvanians. All day long we help voters vote on Election Day. We check them in, answer questions, explain how to mark ballots, and exchange “spoiled” ballots that are incorrectly marked for new ones.

On Election Day, I clock in at an understaffed precinct in my county at 5:30 a.m. and work until 9 p.m., with no time to get to my home precinct to cast my own vote. I therefore vote by mail. But if those who dislike mail-in-ballots have their way, I could be disenfranchised, along with other civic-minded citizens — such as, firefighters, seniors, shut-ins, nurses, military members, and more — who simply can’t get to their polling place on Election Day.

The Centre County Republican Party unsuccessfully sued the County Commissioners for accepting 95 mail-in-ballots (out of 8,494) that had inconsequential errors with outer envelope dates. This delayed certification of the Centre County Primary Election until May 28, making Centre County the last county in Pennsylvania to certify our vote.

These date errors have nothing to do with my legitimate right to vote, or my ability to choose my representatives. But if Republicans have their way, I’d have no recourse to correct an incomplete or transposed date, unlike the hundreds of voters I help on Election Day.

This is unequal treatment under the law.

As you think about who to support in upcoming elections, please choose candidates who pledge to guard every eligible citizen’s right to vote.