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Tuesday is Election Day!

  • Russ Walker
Voters cast their ballots at a fire station in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Voters cast their ballots at a fire station in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.

Ugh, not again. Perhaps you share my view that the twice-yearly shifting of the clocks should be retired. The extra hour of sleep gained this weekend comes at the expense of an earlier sunset, and I, personally, am not a fan. Neither is state Sen. Scott Martin of Lancaster County, who is pushing the legislature to do away with it. “There is no good reason why we need to continue to move the clocks forward and backward every few months,” he said in a note to constituents. “It only robs us of daylight in the evenings when most families spend time together and creates more dangerous driving conditions when many people are going home from work.” Scott isn’t alone, as this report from the National Conference of State Legislatures says. I’m ready! — Russ Walker, editor. (h/t to LNP for noting Scott’s stand on this issue.) 

There’s no greater duty for citizens of our democracy

Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Voters cast their ballots at a fire station in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Matt Rourke / AP Photo)

Fellow Pennsylvanians, are you ready to head to the polls tomorrow? Readers of The Context are highly engaged, so I’m betting you plan to vote.

But too many of our friends and neighbors are not. Off-year elections are notorious for low turnout. Fewer than a quarter of Pennsylvania voters bothered to participate in the 2015 election. It will likely be the same in 2019. Please do your part by voting AND urging others to do the same.

If you’re not sure what races are on your ballot, there’s plenty of information online. Here’s a short list of great resources:

First, many voters will see new machines at their polling station. PA Post’s Emily Previti took the lead in producing this interactive map that allows you to check what kind of machine you’ll encounter.

As for the ballot, you’ll see a constitutional amendment on it — s a victims’ rights proposal often referred to as Marsy’s Law. The constitutionality of the proposal is being challenged in the courts, so the state doesn’t plan to tabulate results until the courts reach a conclusion. But we’re still being asked to vote on it. Here’s an explainer from Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer.

Voters across the state will also decide on two seats for the Superior Court. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Andrew Siedman reports that more than $2 million is being spent on these campaigns. Here’s a good guide to all the judicial races from Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts.

No matter where you live in the state, there’s a voters guide for you. Here’s a few that I found without much effort:

Berks CountyCentre CountyErie CountyLancaster CountyYork, Perry, Cumberland and Dauphin countiesLebanon CountyLehigh ValleyLycoming CountyPittsburgh and Allegheny CountyPhiladelphia,and Greene and Washington counties

If your county isn’t reflected here, I recommend typing this into your favorite search engine: “[Your county name] + Pennsylvania + voters guide.” There’s also plenty of information at VotesPA.com and the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters.

Best of the rest

White House Photographers Office / via Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library

June 23, 1972. President Nixon seated at his desk, family photos and the Lincoln bust statuette are visible behind him. Images taken while a campaign documentary was being filmed. (White House Photographers Office via Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library)

  • It was 50 years ago yesterday that President Richard Nixon delivered his “silent majority” speech to the American people. David Shribman, the former editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, marked the anniversary in his column for the newspaper on Sunday. The speech, Shribman says, was a turning point in history, at least in how presidents talk to the nation. “The Silent Majority speech was the opening salvo in a war against American elites, a conflict that endures to this day,” Shribman writes, adding that one of the biggest students of Nixon is the current chief executive, President Donald Trump.

  • New York Magazine sent reporter Olivia Nuzzi to Lancaster County last week for a Halloween-Eve rally for President Trump’s reelection. One of her observations: “It sort of felt like a children’s birthday party — but for adult Trump fanatics.” Click over to the LNP for more photos and color from the event.

  • Rep. Conor Lamb might be one of the most endangered Democrats in Congress, and now he’s got an opponent. Fox News contributor Sean Parnell says he will challenge Lamb for the 17th District seat in western Pa. President Trump dropped the news during his recent visit to Pittsburgh, and now Parnell has confirmed it.

  • One more 2019 election link: The Inquirer‘s Andrew Seidman looked at how this year’s races, particularly some key contests for county prosecutor, illustrate the battle within the Democratic Party between establishment candidates and progressives.

UPDATED Nov. 7: The text above was modified to remove some egregious snark. The author apologizes.


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