The Pennsylvania general election is coming up on November 2, and with the option of mail-in ballots giving us all a chance to do our research beforehand, I figured it was about time to get started. Elections in odd-numbered years get significantly less attention and activity than presidential elections and even mid-term elections, but they are still incredibly important. In fact, I regularly argue that local elections are even more important than presidential elections because we as citizens can have so much more power and influence on the local level.
If you have any opinions about a topic that has been – or may be – taken up by the Supreme Court, you need to be voting in your state’s judicial elections. If you have any opinions on how tax dollars are spent in your community or what your kids learn in school, you need to be voting in your local municipal elections. Both of those things will be on your ballot this fall, and this post (and reference spreadsheet at the bottom) will walk you through what to expect.
But first things first:
- If you are not already registered to vote in Pennsylvania, the deadline to do that is October 18, but don’t wait until then.
Register online here [1] - If you plan to vote by mail, the deadline to request a mail-in ballot is October 26, but don’t wait until then. Request it early so you’ve got enough time to receive it and return it.
Request your ballot here [2] - Election Day is November 2. If you are voting in person, remember to follow all COVID-19 precautions in place.
If you are voting by mail, ballots must be received at your county election office by 8pm, so don’t wait until the last minute to do your research!
As always, I’ve put together a spreadsheet of the statewide and Allegheny County races on my ballot, which you will find at the bottom of this post. I haven’t included my own municipal races because I doubt that many of my neighbors read this blog, but remember that you’ll have your own local races to research. My spreadsheet is not specific to your community.
Back on the Soapbox
Ultimately, even if a race is uncontested (which many of mine are this fall), I’d rather write in an alternate name than cast a vote for someone whose record or reputation I don’t support. That’s why I’ve historically been such a stickler about following up on each candidate… and also why I was always so upset in the days before mail-in voting when I got to the voting booth and was confronted with additional races that didn’t show up in my research.
I have written at length before about the importance of getting involved in local politics.[3] If your community is anything like mine, your local races are small, barely promoted, and rarely contested. Many of my school board candidates don’t have campaign pages or even social media accounts, which makes it especially hard to determine whether I want to vote for someone or not. I once tracked down a school board candidate on our neighborhood message board to ask her questions, which she was happy to answer (though probably surprised at my persistence.)
No one knows better than I do how much time this level of research takes, and I am fully aware that not everyone has that kind of time or energy… or interest, which is why I push information on this topic as obnoxiously as I can twice a year. But because there is traditionally so little attention on and involvement in local elections, that means that any actions you as an individual make have so much more impact.
What’s at Stake?
I don’t like to repeat myself too much, but if anything is worth repeating, it’s explanations about what you’ll be voting for this fall. Here I will quickly hit the high points from my more in-depth posts on the Pennsylvania state court system and retention elections,[4] what information is and isn’t useful when voting for judges,[5] and the role of municipal governments and school boards.[6]
Judicial Elections
For judicial elections to the Supreme, Superior, and Commonwealth Courts, a win effectively secures a lifetime term – in practice, if not in fact. Terms are 10 years, after which judges can be “retained” for another 10 year term, continuing until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 75. It is extremely rare for a judge not to be retained at the end of his/her term, so it is important to remember that whenever someone joins the bench on one of these courts, that judge will be there for a long time.
The role of these judges is to interpret our laws and determine if they are constitutional. More conservative-leaning judges will be more likely to read the law as written, while more liberal-leaning judges will be more likely to examine different interpretations of the law. If you have opinions or feelings about anything that has been or may be heard by the US Supreme Court, you should remember that those issues begin at the state level, and your involvement (or lack thereof) now can have long-term consequences.
Another thing to consider when selecting judges is their legal background. Not every lawyer has courtroom experience, but that can be incredibly helpful once you’re in the courtroom every day as a judge. When doing my research for the massive field of candidates this year’s primary election for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, I learned from friends who work in the legal system that ratings from bar associations are largely informed through politics and personal connections, not necessarily through skill or expertise.
My friends told me that looking at someone’s background is a better gauge of what kind of judge they will be: if you want someone who is going to be tough on crime, look for former prosecutors and people who have worked in an Attorney General’s office; if you want someone who is going to be more focused on rehabilitation, look for someone with a background as a public defender. It’s unfortunately pretty difficult to get useful information on whether someone will make a good judge (short of knowing someone who spends time with these candidates in the courtroom), but I found these tips helpful when making my selections.
Municipal Elections
A similarly confounding process is local elections, which are also fairly opaque to anyone who doesn’t know the candidates personally. However, if you live in a small community, you have a better chance of getting to know these people if you make an effort to reach out and talk to them, which is by far the most effective way to get involved in politics, anyway. The down side is that if you don’t want to vote for them, there may not be any other options… unless you really want to get involved and run yourself.
But before you do anything else, here’s a reminder of what these people do. According to the State of Pennsylvania, borough governments are involved in “maintenance of streets and have ultimate responsibility for public safety, including police, firefighting and emergency management. Boroughs often provide water, sewer and refuse collection services. Boroughs also regulate the quality of life within the community.”[9] Meanwhile, school boards “oversee the education of students in their jurisdiction. … They are responsible for curriculum and instruction management … [and] all finances including development of annual budgets.”[10]
These positions are responsible for your quality of life and the education of your children. Both of these things should concern you even if you (like myself) do not have kids. Scientific literacy and critical thinking are now more important than ever, and those are taught (or not) in our schools. So what you can do is let your school board candidates know that you pay attention and that you vote.
I hope this was a helpful read. Please take a look at my spreadsheet below and remember to get your voting plan ready.
Thanks for reading!
[1] https://www.vote.pa.gov/Register-to-Vote/Pages/default.aspx
[2] https://www.vote.pa.gov/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Mail-and-Absentee-Ballot.aspx
[3] https://radicalmoderate.online/june-2020-election-guide-corona-edition-part-2/
[4] https://radicalmoderate.online/november-2019-election-guide-part-1/
[5] https://radicalmoderate.online/may-2021-election-guide-pa-primaries-part-3/
[6] https://radicalmoderate.online/november-2019-election-guide-part-2/
[7] https://www.naswnc.org/page/JudicialElections
[8] https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2015/01/10/trustees_or_not_variety_of_school_board_models_can_work.html
[9] https://boroughs.org/pdfs/program_guide_to_borough_government.pdf
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