Letters to the Editor | March 12, 2023
Inquirer readers on how to restore confidence in our elections, and Biden's failure to live up to his pledge not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000.

Restore confidence
Montgomery County Commissioner Ken Lawrence’s recent op-ed on election integrity fails to point out that hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania voters have concerns about the election process and results. Instead of waiting for the state to tackle election issues, there are steps Montgomery County can take now to improve voter services. In recent elections, Montgomery County problems included voters receiving the wrong ballot, too few ballots at polling places, incorrectly printed ballots, unsecured ballot boxes, and watchers kept away from ballot counting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, counties across Pennsylvania implemented a drop box program to collect mail-in ballots. This program is not required by state law and should now be suspended. Mail-in ballots should be dropped off or mailed to Montgomery County Voter Services. To increase voter confidence, voters should be required to sign a log when dropping off the ballot, allow party representatives a meaningful opportunity to observe the handling and counting of ballots at all times, and, upon recognition of an error in the count or with the canvas, notify both parties immediately. These simple steps will add transparency to the process, protect our votes, and restore citizens’ confidence in our electoral system and election results.
Tom DiBello, former supervisor, Limerick Township and Spring Ford school director, and Liz Ferry, commissioner, Upper Dublin Township
Biden’s pledge
President Joe Biden’s recent proposal to increase taxes to fund Medicare simultaneously breaks his pledge not to raise taxes on people earning $400,000 or less. His 2020 campaign pledge was in 2020 dollars. Accounting for inflation, that would be about $460,000. Unless he adjusts it for the inflation that his policies have flamed, he is raising taxes on the very people who he promised not to. By not recognizing this in his proposal, he proves true one of the biggest concerns about these tax increases, which is that over time, they expand to include more and more of the population through inflation and other expansion of the tax base.
Michael Perlstein, Villanova
Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online,