A group of Pennsylvania lawmakers stripped down naked to raise awareness among people against sending in a "naked" ballot when voting by mail. The idea to pose naked comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week that all ballots sent in without being secured inside the secrecy ballot would be thrown out.
The decision has left a large number of Democrat leaders fear that thousands of votes could be invalidated in the battleground state that President Trump narrowly won in 2016. The decision to pose nude was in a bid to remind the state's voters that they need to remember to place their mail-in ballots inside an accompanying secrecy envelope before sending them back.
A Funny Take
Several lawmakers in Pennsylvania decided to strip down naked last week in a funny way to remind people voting via mail about the dos and don'ts of postal voting this time. "Desperate times call for desperate measures!" Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam's tongue-in-cheek tweet read.
Hallam's viral ad notes: "The public doesn't need to see everything. Don't forget your secrecy envelope!" the tweet further read. The two photos Hallam, 30, tweeted show her alongside fellow Allegheny County council member Olivia "Liv" Bennett and Democratic state House candidate Emily Kinkead.
The tweet makes clear the intention behind the women lawmakers going naked. "So your favorite elected officials got naked so that you remember to make sure that your mail-in ballot is NOT submitted without its secrecy envelope!! #nonakedballots #dressyourballot."
Postal Ballots Likely to Increase
Both local and federal elections officials across the United State believe there will be an influx of mail-in ballots ahead of the 2020 election due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although health and safety precautions have already been taken amid the spread of the virus, fears of the virus spreading fast might still lead historic increases in vote-by-mail numbers in some states.
The topless tweet comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that ballots had to be rejected if not enclosed in the proper secrecy envelope. This has raised fears among Democratic leaders who anticipate a large number of votes could be invalidated in the battleground state that Trump narrowly won in 2016.
Trump, meanwhile, has sought to undermine the November 3 election between him and Democratic nominee Joe Biden by making repeated false statements about the validity of voting by mail although he himself voted via mail himself in Florida's primary election earlier this year.
