Pennsylvania

Pa.’s top election official answers your questions about misinformation, voting machines, and more

Published

2 years ago

April 10, 2024

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.

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Pennsylvania

1 dead, 2 hospitalized after crash in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, police say

Published

53 minutes ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

1 dead, 2 hospitalized after crash in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, police say

Updated on: June 2, 2026 / 9:28 PM EDT
/ CBS Philadelphia

One person is dead, and two others were taken to the hospital after a crash involving multiple vehicles in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The crash happened around 4:45 p.m. at East Bristol Road and Brownsville roads, police said.

Police said a person driving a Toyota RAV4 was involved in a domestic-related incident in Lower Southampton Township before the crash.

The person driving the Toyota RAV4 was traveling eastbound at a high rate of speed, crossed into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle while attempting to pass a Hyundai Kona, according to police.

The Toyota then became airborne, struck a Honda SUV and a Ford pickup truck and rolled over. The driver of the Toyota died in the crash, police said.

The driver of the Hyundai Kona left the road and came to a rest after striking a fence on Bristol Road, according to police.

It’s unclear if any drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash, police said.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Bensalem police.

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Pennsylvania

Digital News Publishers Launch Pennsylvania Independent News Association (PiNA) to Advocate for Local News Organizations – Saucon Source

Published

11 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Digital News Publishers Launch Pennsylvania Independent News Association (PiNA) to Advocate for Local News Organizations – Saucon Source

The publishers of two dozen local news brands across Pennsylvania today announced the official formation of the Pennsylvania Independent News Association (PiNA).

The new Harrisburg-based organization is dedicated to bringing together digital-first local news organizations to strengthen the independent press, modernize laws and policies, and ensure the long-term sustainability of community news.

“The news industry is in a period of profound transformation, and digital news publishers need a seat at the table,” said Tom Sofield, PiNA’s president and publisher of LevittownNow.com.

PiNA’s mission is to provide these publishers with a collective voice, advocating for policies that reflect the modern reality of news consumers, local businesses and civic organizations.

An immediate focus for the new association is the reform of Pennsylvania’s outdated public notice laws, which currently prohibit digital outlets from publishing legal notices. PiNA seeks the right for qualified and established digital outlets to compete against incumbent print outlets and for local municipalities to choose the publication and medium that’s best for their communities. PiNA’s proposed amendment draws from similar legislation in Virginia that was signed into law in 2024.

“PiNA publishers have long been ready to compromise and find policy solutions that work for all Pennsylvanians,” said PiNA secretary and treasurer Davis Shaver, publisher of LebTown. “When lawmakers and local government organizations say they want the ability to self-publish notices, it’s a result of legacy newspapers treating the print monopoly over public notices as a profit center.”

PiNA’s position is that independent outlets can provide the third-party affidavits of publication required to demonstrate compliance with public notice mandates–an essential role of the notice process that would not be possible if agencies were allowed to publish on their own websites.

“We understand why self-publication is desirable, but it’s not the only way to provide urgently needed financial relief for the onerous print newspaper tax on public notices,” said Shaver. “We’re tired of waiting for legacy newspapers to disrupt themselves. Enough is enough, let’s move on.”

PiNA has already engaged with state legislators from across the Commonwealth. PiNA leadership said that the group has been encouraged to learn that its position has widespread support. In particular, PiNA commends Representative Robert Freeman (D-136) for his leadership on this issue.

PiNA represents a group of serious-minded news organizations and leaders. Its membership spans the Commonwealth, from the most rural area to the suburbs and to the neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. PiNA member outlets are read by millions of Pennsylvanians monthly.

“We are coming together to advocate for our staffs, our readers and common-sense policies–like public notice reform–that support a free and modern press,” said Sofield. “By combining our strengths, we can ensure that every community in Pennsylvania has access to reliable local news.”

The association will work to bring collaboration among the locally-owned Pennsylvania small businesses to share ideas and solutions for growth, technology and sustainable revenue models.

“We believe in the power of local news to build stronger communities and improve lives,” said Sofield. “By forming PiNA, we’re creating a base for independent publishers to thrive together.”

PiNA is focused on ensuring that high-quality, trustworthy local news is a permanent fixture in Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. The founding members of PiNA include Burb Media, EYT Media Group, Fideri News Network, Lazerpro, Lebanon Publishing Company, NCPA Media LLC and Street Light Media Group. The first associate members include West Hills Gazette and Saucon Source.

Member Outlets: AroundAmbler.com, CentralBucksNews.com, explore814.com, exploreClarion.com, exploreJeffersonPA.com, exploreVenango.com, GlensideLocal.com, HorshamNow.com, LebTown.com, LevittownNow.com, MediaPANow.com, MoreThanTheCurve.com, NewHopeFreePress.com, NewtownPANow.com, NorthCentralPA.com, NorthPennNow.com, PerkValleyNow.com, PhillyDaily.com, SauconSource.com, StateCollege.com, WestHillsGazette.com, WillowGroveNow.com, and WissNow.com.

About PiNA

The Pennsylvania Independent News Association (PiNA) is a trade association representing digital-first local news publishers. PiNA works to promote the health and sustainability of independent news outlets through advocacy, collaboration and innovation.

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