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Pippy Calls for Balloting Extension
HARRISBURG -- As
someone who knows the difficulty in receiving and sending mail from the Middle
East, Senator John Pippy, R-37th District, called on Governor Ed Rendell to
extend the absentee military ballot deadline, as he did in the April primary.
Back in April, Governor Rendell was quoted as in the
Harrisburg Patriot-News as saying, “It would simply be unjust for those
individuals fighting in combat to become disenfranchised because of procedural
and administrative delays.”
Due to the fact that many national observers believe
that most of the military ballots will be for Republicans, Senator Pippy is
perplexed by the Governor’s seemingly partisan decision. “Apparently now it is
acceptable to Governor Rendell to disenfranchise the very same men and women who
are putting their lives on the line for our nation,” Senator Pippy said.
Senator Pippy, a Captain in the US Army Reserves,
previously served with the coalition forces in Kuwait and Iraq.
The Governor’s decision to not extend the military
ballot deadline comes on the heels of him appointing Mark Aronchick, a partisan
Democrat and major Kerry fundraiser, to head up the Governor’s recently created
election monitoring teams. Never before in the Commonwealth’s history have
counties needed guidance or observers from Harrisburg to tell them how to
conduct an election. Yet the Governor created these SWAT teams led by one of
the state’s most influential Democratic fundraisers.
“I think the citizens of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania are smart enough to recognize that someone who raises over $100,000
for a Presidential candidate can not possibly then act in an unbiased manner in
that very same election,” said Senator Pippy. Yet the Rendell Administration
defends the appointment and recently told viewers on ABC with George
Stephanopoulos that the election in Pennsylvania would be “fair.”
Senator Pippy commended the Governor for
acknowledging that he wants a “fair” election; something the voters of
Pennsylvania expect and deserve. And in the essence of fairness, Senator Pippy
calls on Governor Rendell to immediately rescind the state’s contract with Mr.
Aronchick and extend the military ballot deadline for all Pennsylvania men and
women fighting for our country.
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