By Tim Lambert | Editor-in-chief
“The Department of State remains committed to ensuring another free, fair, safe and secure election this November, and fighting any unlawful federal overreach into our elections. Despite the federal government’s attempts, and while we recognize that litigation is ongoing, nothing has changed about Pennsylvania’s mail ballot voting laws.” — Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, on his confidence in the state’s election process and security.
A good Thursday morning to you. I’d like take a moment to thank those of you who reached out — through email or social media — with so many kind words about my Flight 93 commentary. They are greatly appreciated. I hope you take some time to read more about the passengers and crew or visit that special place in Somerset County.
Thanks for starting your day with us. As always, we deeply appreciate you reading, sharing and supporting our work. -- Tim
Poll workers wait for voters at the Saltsburg Borough Building in Saltsburg, Indiana County on Election Day May 19, 2026. (Photo by John Beale for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
By Whitney Downard
Amid a national legal battle over the use of mail-in voting ahead of this year’s midterm elections, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said Wednesday that Pennsylvanians should be confident in the state’s election process and security.
Each of the state’s 67 counties oversees elections in their jurisdiction, he added, including preparing, proofing, printing and mailing ballots. Some ballots for overseas and military voters have already been mailed.
Schmidt also asked eligible Pennsylvanians to consider being a poll worker, noting that the state needs roughly 45,000 people to staff more than 9,000 polling places across the state. Many counties are still working to secure and train all the staff they’ll need before Election Day.
Nearly two million Pennsylvanians used mail-in ballots in 2024, compared to 5 million others who voted in person. President Donald Trump, who votes by mail, continued his attack on the popular method ahead of a critical midterm election and directed the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail-in voting — a move that some argue usurps Constitutional, congressional and state authority.
Election workers process ballots at Chester County’s central scanning location in West Chester, Pa. prior to the start of Election Day on November 5, 2024. (Kriston Jae Bethel for Votebeat)
By Carter Walker of Votebeat
An attorney who represented a Pennsylvania county as it attempted to investigate the 2020 election is facing possible suspension or disbarment.
Thomas Carroll, an attorney from the Lehigh Valley, represented Fulton County in a long-running dispute the county had with the Pennsylvania Department of State and a voting equipment manufacturer.
Now, the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board, which regulates lawyers’ conduct, says Carroll should face consequences for the “bad faith” way in which he represented the county.
Attorney Jeffrey Deskovic of the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, exoneree Yeidja Bostick and state Rep. Regina Young (D-Philadelphia/Delaware) at a press conference in Harrisburg to raise awareness of wrongful conviction compensation legislation. (Photo by Emily Previti/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
FOLO PA PODCAST
By Emily Previti
State lawmakers are coming back from summer recess with two state Supreme Court orders hanging over them. One is to create a framework for people serving life without parole for second-degree murder; the other, to pass regulations for skill games.
Both issues are among top priorities of stakeholders in the criminal justice space. Some are concerned the court-ordered priorities could overwhelm legislative bandwidth and prevent other justice reforms from making progress within the remaining weeks of this current legislative session.
Right now, the time crunch is exacerbated by overlapping with the final push before the midterms – and their potential to distract incumbents and/or dissuade them from action.
Independent reporting on Pennsylvania state government that impacts communities statewide — free to read and republish.
Amid fluctuating gas prices, economic uncertainty and rising costs for things like groceries and electricity, we know how important it is to make every dollar count.
So, we understand if you are facing a tight budget and aren’t able to make a gift to the Capital-Star at this time. But if you are able to invest today, you will be helping to keep your fellow Pennsylvanians educated and informed about issues impacting our great commonwealth — from data centers to the election to healthcare.
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Brooke Landry, left, an SAV expert with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources who chairs the Chesapeake Bay program work group on underwater grasses, speaks with an attendee during a kayaking trip to the Susquehanna Flats on July 24, 2026. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)
By Christine Condon of Maryland Matters
Aerial surveys show that underwater grasses in the Chesapeake Bay had a strong year in 2025, taking up the most acreage since 2018.
The numbers are a 7% improvement over 2024, covering 89,385 acres — just below a previous 2025 goal calling for 90,000 acres.
But since then, the goalposts have moved.
In December, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) and other bay governors — including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro — signed a new pledge for the Chesapeake Bay. It calls for the bay states to achieve 196,600 acres of grasses across the entire bay — and maintain that number once they get there.
But it stretches the agreement out, calling for 90,000 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation, or SAV, by 203o, 95,000 acres by 2035 and 100,000 acres by 2040.
TODAY IN THE CAPITAL-STAR
Trump’s Canadian trade war stirs up trouble for Republican candidates: Canadian officials have said they’re deliberately targeting goods from states where there are close elections. And GOP candidates in Kansas, Maine and Ohio among others have been forced to balance supporting Trump with defending local manufacturers.
ICYMI
School vaccination rates reveal hidden measles outbreak risks: As Pennsylvania’s growing measles outbreak gets closer to her community on the west side of the state, Amanda Clear is taking actions to assess the risks to her son Dylan. One of her first stops: A new state website that lets anyone look up the student vaccination rates at individual Pennsylvania schools.
Remembering Flight 93 through the lens of healing: Instinctively, I glanced up at the blue sky. “It would have passed right over my head,” I thought as I looked out at the green field. A boulder marked the approximate area where United Flight 93 met the earth at more than 560 mph on Sept. 11, 2001. Forty innocent passengers and crew as well as four al-Qaida terrorists lost their lives there.
Pipeline giant that spilled jet fuel tries to weaken a Pa. clean water law: Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based pipeline giant facing a state-level criminal probe related to a jet fuel spill that polluted drinking water in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood, is seeking to have part of Pennsylvania’s 89-year-old Clean Streams Law declared unconstitutional.
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