Your Civic Duty ‘n’at

Today are the Primary Elections for Pennsylvania. While the real fireworks won’t be till the General Election, we can still send a message to the fat cats in Harrisburg. You can always vote for Mickey Mouse or, better yet, Jack Bauer!

Alas, alack. While turnouts are low for local and state elections, making individual votes have higher impact, most people don’t know what their local politicians are like. Fear not.

The Post-Gazette has a How They Voted guide, showing how senators and reps voted for the gambling and pay raise bils. You can print it out and take it with you to the polls if you aren’t sure who’s your rep or senator. Operation Clean Sweep and LifePAC also have information you find handy.

4 thoughts on “Your Civic Duty ‘n’at

  1. Jerry

    I used one of the new computerized voting booths. I liked it, especially since you use a touchpad screen to write in candidates. I voted for Jack Bauer a number of times, such as for governor. Wouldn’t you love to watch him rough up a lobbyist? My handwriting is so bad I would often not write in stuff since I doubt anyone could read it. So for what it’s worth, I like the new machines.

  2. Lightwave

    Anyone have any idea how well the “clean sweep” effort fared? I can’t find any news about it, and I really don’t want to do the analysis myself (figure out which primary seats were really contested, etc.).

    All I know so far is that Mike Veon did okay for himself. That’s right, vote yourself a pay raise that we hate, but we’ll still vote for you! Not a good sign for the clean sweep effort.

  3. Lightwave

    By the way, I’m with Jerry on the new machines, the ones in Butler County are different than Alegheny, but they work really well! It was so easy, I litterally let my 19 month old daughter push the touch screen buttons for me.

  4. Jerry Post author

    Representative Preston nearly lost a three-way primary–he’s the State rep. for Wilkinsburg. I hope one of those two challengers will knock him out in the fall election. I can personally vouch that Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs cannot afford “business as usual”!

    Clean sweep did have some big successes outside of Pittsburgh. Check it out:

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06137/690794-179.stm

    There were no challenges for the Democratic Reps in the city proper. Go figure. But I hope to at least register my anger with a GOP, or better yet, Libertarian candidate in the Fall.

    If any Libertarian or Republican out there wants a piece of Senator Costa (the Costa that represents me–I lose track of which family member runs what–but heck, please get the family out of the Legislature, period!) or Rep. Frankel, let me know!

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