Smart Talk Wednesday; What counties are doing to prepare for the election; Nursing home death data still missing

The general election is less than two months away and the stakes have never seemed higher. Election security has taken on a new urgency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and on-going questions about mail-in ballots.

The <a href=”https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-mail-ballot-deadlines-disenfranchisement-20200730.html”>primary election in June gave Pennsylvania an opportunity to test the mail-in voting process</a> and they’ve come to a sobering conclusion. <a href=”https://www.pacounties.org/Media/Lists/NewsRelease/customDisplay.aspx?ID=80&amp;RootFolder=%2FMedia%2FLists%2FNewsRelease&amp;Source=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epacounties%2Eorg%2FMedia%2FPages%2Fdefault%2Easpx”>Pennsylvania counties will face very real challenges in providing timely results following the election.</a> With the eyes of the nation on Pennsylvania as a key battleground state, this is a potential problem. A potentially big problem.

Appearing on Wednesday’s <em><strong>Smart Talk</strong></em> to discuss what counties are doing to prepare for election day are <a href=”https://www.pacounties.org/GR/Pages/Connect-with-Us.aspx”>Lisa Schaefer, Executive Director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania</a>, along with <a href=”https://www.dauphincounty.org/government/publicly_elected_officials/commissioners/pries.php#:~:text=Mike%20Pries%20is%20Vice%20Chairman,county%20and%20local%20government%20leader.”>Mike Pries, Dauphin County Commissioner </a>and<a href=”https://yorkcountypa.gov/county-administration/commissioners-office/2012-03-15-13-06-07.html”> Julie Wheeler, York County Commissioner. </a>

Pennsylvania’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href=”https://patch.com/pennsylvania/across-pa/2-3-pa-coronavirus-deaths-nursing-homes-county-breakdown”>Early reports show that nearly two-thirds of deaths in the state occurred in these facilities, but the numbers are difficult to verify.</a>

<a href=”https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2020/09/pa-nursing-home-coronavirus-deaths-cases-public-data-missing/”>According to a recent report in Spotlight PA, there is still an incomplete picture of how many lives were lost due to the virus inside these facilities.</a>

<a href=”https://www.spotlightpa.org/authors/jamie-martines/”>Spotlight PA reporter Jamie Martines</a> authored the report and will join <em><strong>Smart Talk</strong></em> to talk about the missing data.

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