Eric Falk was right to call out Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew’s Senate testimony as one-sided and misleading in his op-ed (“Not all Westmoreland residents want mail-in voting eliminated,” March 29, TribLIVE). As a county resident, I was proud and happy to vote by mail in 2020.
Current voter suppression efforts in Pennsylvania foreshadow a similar threat to democracy and restriction of rights seen in Georgia last month. The Pennsylvania Senate committee on election integrity and reform is collecting evidence of fraud to justify future laws aimed at voter suppression. Yet there was no fraud in Westmoreland, turnout was high, and our votes were counted and verified. Commissioners Chew, Gina Cerilli and Sean Kertes worked together to certify the will of the voters. There were bumps in the road, but the county did just fine in the 2020 election.
The divide between the commissioners and Chew’s inaccurate testimony are chess pieces in the state Legislature’s game to limit voting access. Chew must heal any rifts with his co-workers, publicly support expanding voter access and stand with the people he serves. Westmoreland County will not be an accomplice to the systematic dismantling of voters’ rights in Pennsylvania.
Susan Witt
Greensburg