How Pa. can prevent election disaster ahead of crucial 2024 races: Pa. Pressroom

Pa. Pressroom is a regular recap of politics in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. To submit tips and news leads, contact USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania state capital bureau reporter Bruce Siwy at bsiwy@gannett.com or on Twitter at @BruceSiwy.

County-level staffing and preparation will be critical heading into 2024's hotly contested presidential election year, according to Pennsylvania's new secretary of the commonwealth.

Al Schmidt said he's touring the state to learn about the concerns in local election offices. A core challenge is replacing experienced poll workers who have stepped down in recent years.

"When you have newer people running elections, they are more likely to make mistakes," Schmidt said during a meeting with USA Today Network staff at the Erie Times-News.

"Any mistake is perceived as being intentional and deliberate, influencing the election. The scrutiny is much greater."

Pennsylvanians have endured longer waits because of county-level errors over the past few years.

In 2021, some voters in counties such as Delaware and York were disenfranchised by delays after election officials ran out of Republican ballots. Luzerne County voters faced a similar scenario in 2022 when their machines ran out of paper on Election Day.

These kinds of problems are caused by high staffing turnover, according to Schmidt, and can be avoided if county officials are proactive.

One approach is increasing poll worker pay rates, he said. Philadelphia County recently raised its Election Day pay from $120 to $200 in an effort to increase participation.

In former Gov. Tom Wolf's final budget last year, lawmakers included a new $45 million Election Integrity Grant Program. County officials had until the Aug. 15 deadline to apply for those funds and use them to hire poll workers and staff to prepare mail-in ballots for counting on Election Day.

An additional $662,082.05 is available to counties this year on top of the $45 million because four counties refused their share of the funding in 2022, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

"We don't know what the challenges will be in 2024," Schmidt said, "(so) you just have to prepare for them the best you can."

Inside the Beltway

A portion of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has come to the commonwealth in the form of improvements to a southwestern Pennsylvania water system.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Mitch Landrieu, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, participated in a groundbreaking event at the Montgomery Locks and Dam on Aug. 11. The project involves the construction of a larger lock chamber so goods can be transported more efficiently.

Montgomery is a piece of the Upper Ohio navigation system, which delivers between 15 million and 20 million tons of materials each year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Our inland waterways are a critical artery sustaining the nation's economy and families by delivering goods to our homes, connecting us to global markets, and bolstering employment," said Jaime A. Pinkham, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works. "The investments we are making today will reinvigorate navigation and make it resilient to provide significant benefits for years to come."

The project is expected to create more than 28,000 jobs during construction and 5,300 jobs annually after it's finished, according to Casey's office.

And the horse race

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) has an opponent to both his left and his right heading into 2024.

As he seeks a fourth term in Pennsylvania's First Congressional District, Fitzpatrick is being challenged by Democrat Ashley Ehasz and by Mark Houck of the GOP. Ehasz is a U.S. Army veteran who lost her general election bid against Fitzpatrick last year by 10 points, while Houck has made headlines for his anti-abortion activism.

Fitzpatrick is a centrist Republican who's crossed the aisle at times, sponsoring a recent gun control bill and helping to kill a proposed amendment to the Reins Act that would have mandated congressional authorization for any federal regulation increasing access to abortions.

Ehasz has criticized Fitzpatrick for his turning a blind eye to his "party's violent rhetoric." Houck has pledged to restore "traditional values and principles that are central to the American identity, such as faith, family and freedom of speech, religion and the right to bear arms."

Fitzpatrick's district includes Bucks and Montgomery counties in southeastern Pennsylvania.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: PA poll workers needed, secretary of commonwealth Al Schmidt says