PA Headlines 10/29/21
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — AP is reporting… The Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has revised an ad attacking his opponent after the state bar association notified him it ran afoul of its judicial campaign advertising standards. A top campaign aide to Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin Brobson said Thursday the modified version of the ad critical of Brobson’s Democratic opponent, Superior Court Judge Maria McLaughlin, has begun to air.
The adviser, Bob Branstetter, said it was changed in response to communication from the bar association’s Judicial Campaign Advertising Committee but that confidentiality agreements between the candidates and bar association group prevented him from going into details. “The bar association asked us to do some things,” Branstetter said. “We agreed to do what they asked us to do.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday that the bar committee directed the Brobson campaign to withdraw the ad or issue a release clarifying portions of the ad that violated the bar’s advertising guidelines. The bar guidelines say problematic ads can also be revised.
HARRISBURG – The Center Square is reporting… Pennsylvania state Sen. Pat Stefano has introduced legislation he said allows residents to better protect their family, themselves and their property. Stefano, R-Connellsville, said his bill would expand self-defense protections from a resident’s dwelling to their property line under Pennsylvania’s Castle Doctrine.
Stefano acknowledged forcing residents to wait to defend themselves or a loved one until after a criminal enters their home could lead to a tragedy that otherwise could be prevented. “The right to defend oneself should not be limited, as it is in the current weaker standard, based on whether individuals are inside their dwelling or on their property,” Stefano said. The Castle Doctrine was last updated in 2011 to extend the right of self-defense in any place an individual has the right to be if they believe themselves to be in danger of death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or rape.
“It’s so very important to have clarity in the law so that when these dynamic, critical incidents happen and unfold, the people who are involved in them – who are trying to protect themselves – can do it with certainty,” Kim Stolfer, president of Firearms Owners Against Crime, said. It is expected the bill will be referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for review.
READING (AP) – AP is reporting… Some Spanish-speaking voters in a Pennsylvania city where Hispanics account for nearly 70% of the population are at risk of being disenfranchised in next week’s general election because of an error in Spanish-language instructions that accompanied 17,000 mail-in ballots, activists and elected officials said Thursday. Berks County mailed erroneous Spanish-language instructions that said the ballots had to be returned by Nov. 18 — 16 days past the actual deadline of 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters who got the botched instructions include those in Reading, population 95,000, a growing city in southeastern Pennsylvania with the state’s highest percentage of Latino people. The incorrect date did not appear on the ballot itself, and Berks County sent a follow-up letter to the affected voters and enlisted Hispanic groups to do outreach. But people rallying outside the Berks County Courthouse on Thursday demanded that county officials do more.
“The harm has already been done,” said Patty Torres, organizing director for Make the Road Pennsylvania, an advocacy group for immigrants and working-class Latinos. Torres decried what she called “voter misinformation” from Berks County and said any voter who received the incorrect instructions should be permitted to return their mail-in ballot until Nov. 18 and still have it counted. That suggestion was rejected by county officials, who said they had no legal authority to extend the deadline.
The Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections, agreed, saying such an extension would have to be ordered by a court. Torres also asked the county to retain any ballots received between Nov. 2 and Nov. 18 “so an investigation can take place into whether the ballots were returned according to the erroneous instructions sent by the county, in which case they should be honored.” County officials said that they do not know many Spanish-speaking voters received the botched instructions, since voters get instructions in both English and Spanish, but that about 2,800 of the ballots went to voters in precincts federally designated as bilingual.
