Letters: Personal information must be protected; Reality check for Republicans

Personal information must be protected

For $20, anyone can obtain county lists of Pennsylvania voters, since this is public information covered by the “Sunshine Law.” Apparently our state legislators don’t know about this wonderful service available at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov. They will receive the name, address, date of birth, party, polling place and other information in a timely fashion.

Alas, our Republican state legislators aren’t content with this information. They now wish to subpoena driver’s license and Social Security numbers, too. They will hand all this data over to an as-yet unnamed contractor, with undefined security practices, to make sure there were no 2020 election shenanigans, despite having no evidence of substantive fraud.

As a previous victim of identity theft, I strongly object to the distribution of the additional personal information, which are key pieces used by “bad actors,” a phrase used by Sen. Jake Corman in his recent op-ed. Corman asserts that we must “make our election system stronger and more secure.” I would rather have my personal identifiers made stronger and more secure, thank you.

Reality check for Republicans

“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” This quote from the 1976 movie, “Network”, portrays a man who feels powerless. Fast forward to 2020-21, and the reign of Pennsylvania Republicans. Do we need to list, again, those suffering from the Republican war on women, people of color, people of anything other than male, white, hetero, and rich? Sorry, poor MAGAs, you only count for the grift.

At risk in Pennsylvania — voter information.

Public files include name, address, date of birth, voting history and district. Lawmakers may request who got and returned mail-in ballots.

Pennsylvania Republicans also demand, via subpoena, driver’s license number, social security number — last four digits, and voting records.

Why? To turn the information over to a sham company possibly to be hacked? This is criminal harassment — especially if it results in identity theft for thousands of Pennsylvanians.

Here’s a reality check, Republicans: You lost the Presidency in 2020. You lost because people did not vote for your policies.

Yeah, we’re mad; and like the man in the movie, we need to shout, email, tweet and VOTE against all the Pennsylvania Republicans who are trying to steal our votes and potentially our very identities.

Protect private voter information

On Sept. 15, in a party line vote, the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee subpoenaed the Department of State for information on the 2020 election. Part of that request includes information on 7 million Pennsylvania voters including names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, birth dates and partial social security numbers. The committee intends to turn the data over to an undisclosed third-party contractor for an undisclosed use.

Senator Jake Corman, ex-officio committee member, voted for those subpoenas.

While some of the information requested is publicly available and doesn’t require a subpoena, it is unclear why the committee needs the driver’s license, birth dates, and social security information, as they haven’t articulated any valid reason yet.

We do know that this is information that is extremely useful in identity theft. Also, the committee hasn’t said how the data will be protected. And, since they haven’t identified the third-party contractor, we have no way of evaluating that business’s ability or willingness to secure the data.

Regardless of your political party, or your view on the necessity of the Republican audit of the 2020 election, I hope you agree that giving your private information away to some unknown private company, for some poorly defined project, is a gross abuse of governmental power and the public trust placed in the legislature. Please contact Senator Corman at 814- 355-6046 and tell him you want your private information protected. And that, at a minimum, this part of the subpoena should be withdrawn immediately.