Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania elections judge changes his tune after vote counting concerns
Pennsylvania’s Jay Schneider said he started volunteering as a poll worker in 2022 due to his own skepticism about how votes were counted.
During the last presidential election between Democrat Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump, a spike in mail-in ballots due to the Covid-19 pandemic led to some of his concerns.
Schneider, who now serves as judge of elections for Chester County, Pennsylvania, recalled his feelings from four years ago to Newsweek in an interview Monday at the Caln Township building.
“I just find it hard to believe that what the 3,400 counties in the country that all of them are prepared for this giant influx mail-in ballots,” said Schneider, a registered Republican, who told Newsweek that he votes for ‘people over party.’ “I think there could have been some shenanigans.”
Heading into Election Day on Tuesday, many voters, especially Republicans, continue to express similar concerns.
According to an October survey from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only one quarter of Republicans have “quite a bit” of trust in the nationwide vote counting. Those poll numbers improve for local elections officials, such as Scheider, as half of Republicans have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust that municipal officials will count votes accurately.
Just last week, authorities in two Pennsylvania counties flagged thousands of potentially fraudulent voter registration applications, prompting Trump to stoke fears of fraud in the Keystone State. However, there was no evidence the applications have led or will lead to illegal votes.
Shneider says, with two years of experience an election worker, his “opinion has changed.” And while he says he can’t speak for election offices nationwide; he doesn’t see evidence of voter fraud happening in his own county.
“It’s very transparent,” said Schneider. “Here at the polls, we have Democrats and Republicans. Do you think one’s going to let the other get away with something? No. That’s the same thing at the county, plus everything is videotaped. You as a resident can just walk in here and watch things happen. It’s not hidden in anyway.”
As the fifth-most populous state, Pennsylvania holds 19 critical electoral votes, making it the largest of the seven key swing states in national elections.
Polls show Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in a dead heat in the Keystone State. According to polling expert Nate Silver’s calculations, the candidate who wins Pennsylvania has more than a 90 percent chance of winning the election.
Schneider said he voted by mail this year to tryout a new method of casting his ballot. “Just to make sure what the front-end looked like when you do that,” he said.
“This election is crazy,” Schneider said. “I have no idea what it’s going to be like because early voting — there’s a lot of that going on. But I have eight people (working the polls) this year. I never had that many people before.”
Pennsylvania Poll Workers Gear Up for Election Day
This year, Schneider’s Election Day will start at 5 a.m.
Schneider will head to the local Wawa, get a gallon of coffee, then report to the Caln Township building in Thorndale. Along with the poll workers, Schneider will rearrange the furniture so that there’s designated areas for people to line up, grab their ballots, vote, and submit into the sealed ballot machine.
Schneider has a binder full of color-coded sheets that indicate what to do in different situations with voters, including additional paperwork for provisional ballots.
“It’s like our cheat sheet for the poll work,” Schneider said.
This year, Schneider said his team does not need to hand count ballots on top of the machine’s work. Throughout the day, the voting machine will be checked multiple times to ensure the ballots that are entered match with voters.
He said with a camera, a Democrat and a Republican there, “nobody’s going to mess with that.”
“For me personally. I know it’s legit. And talking to the county and other people that do the same job has everybody confident about what’s happening here, at least in Chester County,” Schneider said. “I don’t feel that there’s any issues here. I hope there aren’t any anywhere else.”
Election Day is tomorrow. Follow Newsweek’s live blog for the latest updates.
Follow Newsweek’s Monica Sager on Twitter @monicasager3 for more election updates from the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
Mostly cloudy and breezy conditions on tap this evening
Pennsylvania
Bacteria In Toothpaste: What PA Customers Need To Know
PENNSYLVANIA— Any Pennsylvania residents who use Tom’s of Maine toothpaste and have noticed a strange taste or smell from the product aren’t alone, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which recently detailed how bacteria was found in some of the company’s products and black mold was discovered at a facility.
The agency this month issued a warning letter to Tom’s of Maine Inc. about its “significant violations” of manufacturing regulations for pharmaceuticals, and discussed a May inspection of the facility in Sanford, Maine.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a type of bacteria that can cause blood and lung infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was found from June 2021 to October 2022 in samples of water that was used to make Tom’s Simply White Clean Mint Paste, the letter stated. The water was also used for the final rinse in equipment cleaning.
Gram-negative cocco-bacilli Paracoccus yeei, which is associated with several infections, according to the Hartmann Science Center, was in a batch of the company’s Wicked Cool! Anticavity Toothpaste, the letter stated.
Ralstonia insidiosa, a waterborne bacteria, according to the Journal of Medical Microbiology, was repeatedly found at water points of use at the facility, the letter stated.
“A black mold-like substance” was discovered within one foot of equipment that came into contact with products, according to the letter, which stated the substance was at the base of a hose reel and behind a water storage tank.
The company received about 400 complaints related to toothpaste odor, color and taste, including in relation to products for children, but the complaints were not investigated, the letter said.
“We have always tested finished goods before they leave our control, and we remain fully confident in the safety and quality of the toothpaste we make,” Tom’s of Maine said, according to News Center Maine. “In addition, we have engaged water specialists to evaluate our systems at Sanford, have implemented additional safeguards to ensure compliance with FDA standards, and our water testing shows no issues.”
In the federal administration’s letter, dated Nov. 5, the agency directed the company to provide multiple risk assessments, reserve sample test results from all unexpired batches, and a water system remediation plan, among other things. The administration requested a written response from Tom’s of Maine within 15 working days.
With reporting by Anna Schier of Patch.
Pennsylvania
How Philadelphia took care of its own through history
The Orphan Society was formed by a committee of wealthy Philadelphia women, notably Sarah Ralston and Rebecca Gratz, who each took the role of social reformer very seriously.
Gratz, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant, also formed the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society, and the Hebrew Sunday School. Gratz College in Elkins Park is named after her.
“She never married,” Barnes said. “She did things like put her money and her time toward doing that kind of public service.”
Ralston, the daughter of onetime Philadelphia mayor Matthew Clarkson, also formed the Indigent Widows and Single Women’s Society, which ultimately became the Sarah Ralston Foundation supporting elder care in Philadelphia. The historic mansion she built to house indigent widows still stands on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, which is now its chief occupant.
Women like Ralston and Gratz were part of the 19th-century Reform Movement that sought to undo some of the inhumane conditions brought about by the rapid industrialization of cities. Huge numbers of people from rural America and foreign countries came into urban cities for factory work, and many fell into poverty, alcoholism, and prostitution.
“These are not new problems, but on a much larger scale than they ever were,” Barnes said. “It was just kind of in the zeitgeist in the mid- and later-1800s to say, ‘We’ve got to address all these problems.”
The reform organizations could be highly selective and impose a heavy dose of 19th-century moralism. The Indigent Widows and Single Women’s Society, for example, only selected white women from upper-class backgrounds whose fortunes had turned, rejecting women who were in poor health, “fiery-tempered,” or in one case, simply “ordinary.”
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