I was appalled by the article “Westmoreland commissioner says county voters want end to no-excuse mail-in ballots, another disputes that” (March 23, TribLIVE). Mr. Chew, you do not have permission to speak for me concerning mail-in ballots or any other issue involving my rights and responsibilities as a U.S. citizen.
You should consider a public apology to those constituents who do not agree with your statement, before the Senate committee on election integrity and reform, that “my constituents want the elimination of mail-in ballots.”
You also said, “A lot of Westmoreland County voters view mail-in ballots as very ripe for fraudulent activity.” Really, Mr. Chew, we know this is untrue. Election fraud was found not to be a problem in the November 2020 election.
Please make it a practice to question your constituents before making comments about opinions. To be clear, I fully support mail-in ballots and see no reason to fear voter fraud.
On another matter, I support the idea of a county health department. You failed your citizens and dropped the ball with the covid-19 vaccine. Myself and many of my friends and family had to leave the county to get vaccinated. Our citizens deserve better.
It is time that our county moves out of the dark ages and replaces a trio of county commissioners with an elected county manager and council. Our needs will be better served by having a local voice on a council rather than someone who doesn’t know that we exist here in Lower Burrell.
Kimberlee A. Shank-Romano
Lower Burrell