When election security goes wrong

benfell

Gilead

Competitive authoritarian regime project


Fig. 1. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Clarence Mitchell during signing ceremony of the voting rights act. Yoichi Okamoto, August 6, 1965, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Whoops.

During what was largely a smooth election day in Allegheny County Tuesday, the Elections Court issued a cease and desist order to a group called “The Commission Security.” The order said members of the group were purporting to be poll security and prohibited them from traveling to or entering any polling places.

The security team was hired by a group called Pennsylvania Voice, which partners with more than 50 organizations, including Common Cause and Planned Parenthood, “working together to expand power for communities of color.” . . .

“Having six sheriff officers show up to a polling location actually serves the opposite of our goal,” [Salewa Ogunmefun] said, “and when we saw that happen, we pulled the commission from the field. It doesn’t make sense for us to create the situation that we wanted to avoid, which is people feeling uncomfortable.”

Ms. Ogunmefun said Pennsylvania Voice reached out to the Allegheny County commissioners, police, sheriff and solicitor before election day to inform them that the election team would be working in the field. She also said that a similar team operated in Allegheny County in 2020 with no issues, as did similar teams in half a dozen other Pennsylvania counties this year.[1]

Supposedly, all members of the team were unarmed and Black. Poll workers reported armed Black and white people.[2]

Reuters, “Russia’s Prigozhin admits interfering in U.S. elections,” November 7, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russias-prigozhin-admits-interfering-us-elections-2022-11-07/

Ishaan Tharoor, “U.S. democracy slides toward ‘competitive authoritarianism,’” Washington Post, November 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/11/08/american-democracy-backsliding-competitive-authoritarianism/

Dan Balz, “The vaunted red wave never hit the shore in midterm elections,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/08/midterms-dissatisfied-voters-render-judgments-biden-republicans/

Emma Brown, Amy Gardner, and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Key election deniers concede defeat after disputing Trump’s 2020 loss,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/09/election-deniers-midterms-democracy/

Amy Gardner, “Election deniers score big wins, but also suffer significant setbacks,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/09/election-deniers-2020-house-senate-races/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022,[3] public domain.

Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey, “Trump absorbs GOP losses, while DeSantis glows with landslide victory,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/09/desantis-trump-2024-presidential-election/

Dan Balz, “The vaunted red wave never hit the shore in midterm elections,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/08/midterms-dissatisfied-voters-render-judgments-biden-republicans/

David Lauter, “The midterm’s big loser: Trump suffers multiple defeats,” Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2022-11-09/the-midterms-big-loser-trump-suffers-multiple-defeats-essential-politics

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101

Brian Slodysko, “Election takeaways: No sweep for the Republicans after all,” Associated Press, November 9, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-takeaways-9381d3aaff26d19da95506e045fcd6e1

Pennsylvania

2022 election


Fig. 1. John Fetterman as mayor of Braddock, photograph uncredited and undated, via Next Pittsburgh,[4] fair use.

Brian C. Rittmeyer, “Summer Lee wins 12th District race, poised to become Pa.’s first Black woman in Congress,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 8, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/regional/lee-races-out-to-early-lead-over-doyle-in-12th-congressional-district/

Samantha Melamed, “Voters cited abortion as a key issue in Pennsylvania’s first election since ‘Roe’ was overturned,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 8, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/news/election-day-pennsylvania-abortion-reproductive-rights-voters-20221108.html

Kris Maher, “Democrat Josh Shapiro Wins Pennsylvania Governor Race Over Doug Mastriano,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/democrat-josh-shapiro-wins-pennsylvania-governor-race-over-doug-mastriano-rdDSLqwHlckU7Q5yZYF2

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101

Aaron Zitner, “John Fetterman Wins Key Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Defeating Mehmet Oz,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/oW3cFfkuo97s4Fa2Q9Sl

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 1. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[5] fair use.

Between election news and the cruft of everyday life, I was way late getting out today. The first delay was picking up my laundry. I was on my way back from that when I saw two Allegheny County white supremacist gangster vehicles speeding with lights and sirens the opposite way on Washington Road.

Then I had to go up to West View to pick up a prescription that insurance snafus had led me to transfer to an independent pharmacy. This, of course, was a small package, so I went on line after I got back to my car.

My first passenger was a lady who had been in an accident, she said, in the Carnegie Library. There was an “active shooter” on the loose, the white supremacist gangster told her she needed to get the fuck out of there, and so she’d caught an Uber (not me), whose driver nearly ran into the same pole she did, up to a friend’s house in West View. It fell to me to take her from there nearly to West Virginia.

Those delays might have kept me well away from a shooting in Scott Township:

Allegheny County Superintendent Christopher Kearns said authorities believe the shooting stemmed from a fight on Cochran Road between the suspect and victim, who they said knew each other.

Police said the suspect followed the victim into the office and shot him in the foyer. After the gunman ran away, police launched a search and several buildings, including Mt. Lebanon and Chartiers Valley schools and a Catholic school in the areaa were locked down. About 2:30 p.m., police ended the search and started lifting lockdowns, although the suspect remained at large. Police said that because the shooting was targeted, they don’t believe the public is in danger.[6]

There are a couple issues here. First, an Uber was sent into an area with an “active shooter” (who has apparently still not been apprehended[7]) to pick this lady, who would later be my passenger, up. Second, there are way too many people fucking shooting at each other in Pittsburgh. (This particular shooting happened in an area[8] I generally consider completely safe.) And I’m out there driving strangers around. But oh yeah, Uber wants me to feel safe doing so,[9] when the reality is I’m anything but and indeed that driving for Uber has to be about the stupidest thing a person can do in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Man shot and killed in Scott office building,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/11/09/scott-township-allegheny-county-shooting-police/stories/202211090096

Gentrification


Fig. 1. The old Hazelwood library branch. It has been replaced with a new branch on Second Avenue. Photograph by author, May 1, 2020.

So a funny thing happened recently. I had heard that a Giant Eagle would be shutting down in the Shadyside neighborhood. I thought of the one on Centre Avenue, which seems usually pretty busy.

I was thinking of the wrong Giant Eagle. The one that shut down is near the intersection of Penn Avenue and Shady Avenue. The building has been razed and the parking lot dug up.

It seems that a new Giant Eagle “Market District” store and apartment complex will be going in there.[10] Shadyside is, for the most part, an upper middle class or better neighborhood but this complex is going in right across Penn Avenue from the gentrifying East Liberty neighborhood[11] and I guess the “Market District” stores are upscale, though supposedly some of the housing will be “affordable,”[12] whatever the fuck that actually means.

Mark Belko, “A different bird: Shady Hill Center redevelopment to feature Market District store,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2022/11/09/shady-hill-center-shadyside-giant-eagle-echo-realty-planning-commission-shakespeare/stories/202211090044

  1. [1]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101↩
  2. [2]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101↩
  3. [3]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/↩
  4. [4]Kim Lyons, “Braddock Mayor John Fetterman keeps on truckin’ in his quest for the Senate,” Next Pittsburgh, March 11, 2016, https://nextpittsburgh.com/features/the-challengers-braddock-mayor-john-fetterman-keeps-on-truckin/↩
  5. [5]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389↩
  6. [6]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Man shot and killed in Scott office building,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/11/09/scott-township-allegheny-county-shooting-police/stories/202211090096↩
  7. [7]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Man shot and killed in Scott office building,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/11/09/scott-township-allegheny-county-shooting-police/stories/202211090096↩
  8. [8]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Man shot and killed in Scott office building,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/11/09/scott-township-allegheny-county-shooting-police/stories/202211090096↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Gaslighting Uber drivers on safety,” Not Housebroken, June 23, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/04/28/gaslighting-uber-drivers-on-safety/↩
  10. [10]Mark Belko, “A different bird: Shady Hill Center redevelopment to feature Market District store,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2022/11/09/shady-hill-center-shadyside-giant-eagle-echo-realty-planning-commission-shakespeare/stories/202211090044↩
  11. [11]Bob Bauder, “Pittsburgh settles court battle over Penn Plaza Apartments,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 27, 2017, https://archive.triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburgh-settles-court-battle-over-penn-plaza-apartments/↩
  12. [12]Mark Belko, “A different bird: Shady Hill Center redevelopment to feature Market District store,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2022/11/09/shady-hill-center-shadyside-giant-eagle-echo-realty-planning-commission-shakespeare/stories/202211090044↩

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