Laurels & lances: Speaking up and reaching out

Laurel: To the power of participation. We harp a lot on the responsibility of voting. We urge people to register and to get out and do their duty. There still are a lot of voices that chime back about what good it does. Can one vote really matter? What makes a difference when you only have a choice between a couple of options?

It does matter. Primary results show that.

Slated for certification on Monday, the Westmoreland County approvals show there were 18,000 write-in votes this year. Write-ins don’t always make a stir. Sometimes a voter submits one as a joke. Mickey Mouse has been in the running for a lot of public offices. Sometimes it’s just a way to protest the other options, which is a valid stance to take.

But sometimes a write-in makes an impact.

In Allegheny Township, Republican newcomer Jeff Pollick won on both the Democratic and Republican ballots thanks to write-in votes, making him the presumptive winner in November — barring another successful write-in campaign.

It’s not just Westmoreland. In Armstrong County, the Kiski supervisors race also has been impacted by write-ins, with Mary Long securing a spot on the November ballot. Despite not appearing as a primary ballot option, she picked up 62 Democratic write-in votes and 220 Republican ones.

And, in Allegheny County, the biggest impact comes in the district attorney’s race, where Stephen A. Zappala Jr. was defeated as the Democratic incumbent by public defender Matt Dugan, but set up a do-over by obtaining enough Republican write-in votes.

Political power isn’t just about electoral votes and PAC money. It really does start with local and county offices being secured by the people who show up at the polls. And, if you don’t like your options, writing in another one can change the game.

Lance: To bad connections. Cellular devices and social media are supposed to be about keeping us in touch with other people. We have family plans for our phones, and we have “friends” on Facebook. We have contact lists that note all the people in our lives.

So why do they make us feel so lonely?

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently noted an epidemic of isolation in the nation. Studies show social media and cellular devices can be part of that.

“I think that contributes to some of the feelings of isolation and loneliness. You don’t hear the intonation in people’s voices when you’re just reading text on a screen,” said Patti Lewis, director of behavioral health for Westmoreland County-based Excela Health, now part of the Independence Health System.

These devices and networks shouldn’t take the place of real interaction. They should augment them, letting you stay close to family members who have moved away or having meaningful friendships despite distance. But it’s important to still keep the kind of connections that can’t be dropped — particularly when you’re going through a bad patch.