Pennsylvania
Pa.’s top election official answers your questions about misinformation, voting machines, and more
This story originally appeared on Spotlight PA.
Ahead of the April 23 primary, Pennsylvania’s top election official answered your questions about misinformation, voting machine security, and more.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt joined Spotlight PA’s Kate Huangpu and Votebeat’s Carter Walker in March for a live event about building trust in elections. If you missed it, you can watch the conversation here.
Below are Schmidt’s answers to some of the questions asked during the event, as well as answers he sent via email to five of the questions we couldn’t get to.
Read his responses below, some of which have been condensed for space and clarity:
You called the departure of experienced local voting officials one of the biggest threats to our election. Can you talk a bit about the department’s new training for election officials? —Carter Walker, Votebeat
One of the biggest challenges that we’re facing not just in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but across the country is the turnover among the people responsible for running elections at the county level.
More than 70 have left in Pennsylvania since 2020 — and that’s a lot. And when you have people running elections, who have had little experience running elections, they’re more likely to make a mistake in election administration.
But when they do make mistakes, they’re interpreted as being intentional or malicious, or seeking to alter the outcome of the election for or against a candidate or campaign.
So the Department of State has created this year a new training team to provide training to election administrators across the commonwealth. Our sessions usually have between 50 and 100 election administrators at senior levels participating: ones who have been around for decades and ones who are brand new. It’s a service the Department of State is providing to make sure that newer people know what to do and what to prepare for.
I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the Election Threats Task Force, describing its role, its members, the information that’s being shared and how that will translate on Election Day. —Kate Huangpu, Spotlight PA
The Elections Threat Task Force is mainly designed to improve communication among people responsible for running elections and people responsible for law enforcement in the event we encounter any sort of ugliness like we encountered in 2020, and off and on, since 2020.
When all that came about in 2020 — and I was running elections at the county level and was on the receiving end of death threats, targeting myself and primarily targeting my family, targeting my young kids — we had to scramble to figure out what to do and how best to respond.
So the main purpose is to really open up lines of communications, to understand what everybody’s role is when it comes to running elections and when it comes to law enforcement.
Mis- and disinformation were a major source of confusion and interference in the 2020 election. I was hoping you could talk a bit about how the department is going to address those issues this year. —Carter Walker, Votebeat
Part of it is to make sure that you’re telling the truth about elections.
For me, it’s not about going back and forth with different parties and different people. It’s not about subjective differences of opinion on elections. It’s about whenever you encounter things that are categorically untrue, empirically untrue.
I think it’s a matter of understanding what questions are out there. And then when we do encounter things that are untrue, that are are intended to mislead voters from the truth about elections, then we need to make sure that we’re telling the truth about elections — that we provide accurate information.
It’s not about going back and forth. It’s not about arguing. It’s about telling the truth about elections and doing our part to make sure that voters are informed consumers of accurate, truthful election information.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania High School Girls Basketball 2026 Playoff Brackets, Schedule (PIAA) – March 10, 2026
The 2026 Pennsylvania high school girls basketball state playoffs begin on Tuesday, March 10, with second-round games for all divisions.
High School On SI has brackets for every division in the PIAA high school girls basketball playoffs. The state championships begin on March 19th.
Pennsylvania High School Girls Basketball 2026 Playoff Brackets, Schedule (PIAA) – March 10-11, 2026
CLASS 1A BRACKET (select to view bracket)
Second Round
New Covenant Christian vs. Delaware County Christian – 03/11
Philadelphia Montgomery Christian Academy vs. Benton – 03/11
Our Lady of Lourdes Regional vs. Motivation – 03/11
Linville Hill vs. Southern Fulton – 03/11
Williamsburg vs. Elk County Catholic – 03/11
Farrell vs. Bishop Carroll – 03/11
Clarion-Limestone vs. Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy – 03/11
Bishop Guilfoyle vs. Aquinas Academy – 03/11
CLASS 2A BRACKET (select to view bracket)
Second Round
Shalom Christian Academy vs. Southern Columbia Area – 03/10
Faith Christian vs. Mountain View – 03/10
Wyoming Seminary College Prep vs. Marian Catholic – 03/10
York Catholic vs. Berlin Brothersvalley – 03/10
Neshannock vs. Penns Manor – 03/10
Kennedy Catholic vs. Keystone – 03/10
Bishop McCort vs. Chartiers-Houston – 03/10
Winchester Thurston vs. Wilmington Area – 03/10
CLASS 3A BRACKET (select to view bracket)
Second Round
Imhotep Charter vs. Holy Redeemer – 03/10
Pequea Valley vs. Schuylkill Haven – 03/10
Hughesville vs. Notre Dame-Green Pond – 03/10
Dunmore vs. Executive Education Academy – 03/10
Trinity vs. Troy – 03/10
Northwestern vs. Greensburg Central Catholic – 03/10
Shady Side Academy vs. Beaver Falls – 03/10
Central Cambria vs. Karns City – 03/10
CLASS 4A BRACKET (select to view bracket)
Second Round
Susquehanna Township vs. Universal Audenried Charter School – 03/11
Scranton Prep vs. Allentown Central Catholic – 03/11
Central Columbia vs. Villa Joseph Marie – 03/11
Valley View vs. Neumann-Goretti – 03/11
Delone Catholic vs. Penn Cambria – 03/11
Slippery Rock vs. Oakland Catholic – 03/11
Belle Vernon vs. Blackhawk – 03/11
North Catholic vs. Harbor Creek – 03/11
CLASS 5A BRACKET (select to view bracket)
Second Round
Lampeter-Strasburg vs. Mt. St. Joseph Academy – 03/11
Marple Newtown vs. Crestwood – 03/11
Bethlehem Catholic vs. Villa Maria Academy – 03/11
North Pocono vs. Archbishop Wood – 03/11
York Suburban vs. TBD – 03/11
Peters Township vs. Manheim Central – 03/11
South Fayette vs. Penn-Trafford – 03/11
Baldwin vs. Indiana – 03/11
CLASS 6A BRACKET (select to view bracket)
Second Round
Upper Dublin vs. Perkiomen Valley – 03/10
Hazleton vs. Parkland – 03/10
Easton vs. Red Lion – 03/10
Downingtown West vs. Archbishop Carroll – 03/10
Wilson vs. Cardinal O’Hara – 03/10
Pennsbury vs. Altoona – 03/10
Dallastown vs. Emmaus – 03/10
Canon-McMillan vs. Taylor Allderdice – 03/10
Get even closer to the action by creating a free account. Follow your favorite teams and get score updates, breaking news and alerts when new photo galleries are available.
More Basketball Coverage from High School On SI
West Caln Twp., Pa. (WPVI) — A Pennsylvania State Police Corporal was shot and killed in the line of duty in Chester County Sunday night.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was joined by law enforcement officials outside of Paoli Hospital in paying tribute to Cpl. Timothy O’Connor.
Lt. Colonel George Bivens says O’Connor responded to a call to investigate an erratic driver just after 8 p.m. in Honey Brook.
O’Connor stopped that vehicle the intersection of Compass Road and Michael Road in West Caln Township.
Bivens says O’Connor made a radio call indicating the stop, but did not respond to calls to check on him.
Officers in the area immediately responded and found the situation investigators are calling murder-suicide.
Bivens says within seconds of approaching the stopped vehicle, the driver opened fire, killing O’Connor at the scene.
Investigators say the driver then got out of the vehicle and fatally shot himself.
Authorities tell Action News that officers responded to the scene when the trooper called for backup after shots were fired.
Bivens say O’Connor is a 15-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police.
He leaves behind a wife and young daughter.
Governor Shapiro has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of O’Connor.
Chester County District Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe says the county is assisting with the investigation.
Officials are not releasing the name of the suspect at this time, but say he is a 32-year-old man from Chester County.
They will now be investigating his background and motives, according to de Barrena-Sarobe.
Compass Road is closed between Hill and Lammey Roads as police continue with their investigation.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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