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Spotlight PA Event: How accessible are Pennsylvania’s elections?

A voting location sign is displayed outside Allentown Public Library in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
Matt Smith
/
Spotlight PA
A voting location sign is displayed outside Allentown Public Library in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters.

State and federal laws protect your right to cast a ballot regardless of race, ethnicity, language, or disability. However, voting access in Pennsylvania isn’t always equal.

Voters here do not have equal opportunities to correct mail ballots if they make a technical mistake like forgetting to date the return envelope. At least 16 counties do not give voters a chance to “cure” their mail ballots, a recent analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania found. Spotlight PA and Votebeat found similar disparities last year.

And in recent years, civil rights organizations have revealed access issues affecting people who don’t speak English or who have a disability.

Join us on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 6-7 p.m. on Zoom for a live panel discussion on the accessibility of Pennsylvania’s elections and how you can protect your right to vote.

The discussion will be led by Elizabeth Estrada, Spotlight PA’s democracy editor.

Panelists include:

  • Kate Huangpu, government reporter, Spotlight PA
  • Marian K. Schneider, senior policy counsel for voting rights, ACLU of Pennsylvania
  • Sean Drasher, elections director, Lebanon County 

RSVP for free here.

» Spotlight PA’s events operate on a “pay-what-you-can” honor system. If you value this public-service event, pay it forward and contribute any amount to Spotlight PA now so we can keep our programming free for everyone: spotlightpa.org/donate.