Allegheny County Charter Amendment for 2021

ith the 2016 election raising public concerns about the cybersecurity of our voting system and the pandemic requiring widespread use of less secure mail-in balloting in 2020, establishing an independent Board of Elections (BOE) in Allegheny County could help bolster the public's wavering confidence in the election process.   As it stands now, though, we have elected incumbents in charge of conducting elections, and that constitutes an inherent conflict of interests.   Fortunately, it is possible for a home rule county, such as Allegheny County, to change the composition of its BOE by amending its home rule charter.

As a starting point, we can look to Lucerne County which has had an independent BOE for a number of years.   With it as a reference, OpenPittsburgh.Org has drafted a proposed amendment to the Allegheny County Home Rule Charter which would establish a better qualified, independent BOE.   Unfortunately, since the current pandemic makes it virtually impossible to circulate petitions in 2020 in order to place a referendum for a County Charter amendment on the ballot, that effort has had to be postponed until the next available opportunity which will be in 2021.

Check back here for more information to come shortly.