Note: I had the opportunity to correspond with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for a second U.S. election. My email response to the provided address, as well as the variants I attempted, kept bouncing. The following is a response to the follow-up request for feedback on the ODIHR's Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions for the 2022 mid-term elections. ​Special thanks to Tim Runkle for first putting me in touch with OSCE monitors in 2020.

Greetings, <Redacted> and <Redacted>:
 
I'll save you an excuse for my not responding a week ago, more or less, but I sincerely apologize for the delay.
 
The [OSCE/ODIHR] findings on the 2022 general election (has) informed me that the majority of U.S. states (33) authorize their legislatures to modify boundaries for Congressional districts and preferential votes. I believe the politics of state legislatures are skewed by the high stakes inherent to the two mass parties' attempt to tip the scales of power between themselves. I find this evidenced by generous campaign financing... [that] permits... concealment, as referenced by the [OSCE/ODIHR] press release, of monetary contributions [from] non-profit organizations. If 2022 mailers and Youtube commercials here in Pennsylvania are any indication, then there appears to be more non-profits providing anything from monetary assistance to multimedia aid than there are headline candidates.​

Thank you to the OSCE for continuing its mandate despite a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM). I'll share these provided links and subsequent final report with my social media, friends, and political colleagues.
 
Regards,
 
Jubalyn ExWilliams
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
landturn.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX

Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). In addition to 2022, she corresponded with international election observers in Dauphin County, Pa. from the OSCE in 2020. You can find her writings and commentaries, including "Internat'l mission to U.S. elections: correspondence," at landturn.com/blog.

Related: What influenced me to reconsider participation in electoral politics (2019)
Related: Discrepancy with Green Party presidential candidate: my correspondence (2021)
Related: Discrepancy with Green Party presidential candidate: my correspondence, II (2021)
Related: Getting on the ballot as a third-party candidate in Pennsylvania, (2022)
Related: Getting on the ballot as a third-party candidate in Pennsylvania, II (2022)
Related: How barrier on Stein as viable presidential candidate is man-made (2024)
​Related: About Me: Politics (draft) (2022)
Related: Opportunity for Pa. third-party candidates despite gerrymandering (2022)
Related: Reaching out to third-party candidates for Harrisburg candidate forum (2022)
Related: "Disrupt the Corrupt Tour" stop in Harrisburg a thumbs up (2022)

Please join the #CheyneyChallenge, a monthly donation campaign for America's first HBCU. Despite the national COVID lockdown of 2020, the Cheyney Foundation reports that the university had its highest retention rate in more than two decades. 

​I made my most recent donation of $18.37 today.
​
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
cheyney.edu
Est. 1837
​
The Cheyney Challenge is an initiative of alumnus Mr. Bright. I committed to it in 2015, and began donating the following year.

Related: October Cheyney Challenge (2023)​
Related: November Cheyney Challenge (2020)
Related: November Cheyney Challenge (2021)
Related: November Cheyney Challenge (2022)
Related: November Cheyney Challenge (2023)
Related: January Cheyney Challenge (2023)

Anybody catch the blood moon before dawn this morning?

Brought some binoculars to see some of the moon's features, but the view was dark and the reddish cast too subtle. For me, the shadow was far more visible to the naked eye.

Now that I think of it, I didn't see the face of the moon. The moon doesn't rotate on an axis like the Earth, does it?

On a related note, I went to a magnet school that remains a NASA Explorer School. Today I honored the school by visiting its Web page for the 2nd, maybe 3rd, time in my life.

I see the mural of the 4 little astronauts -- one of the middle two... [for which I] was a model... -- was redrawn and painted over with 4 new little astronauts.

[The original mural was up for] 30 years, so I'm not mad.

Decades from now, at my memorial service, please start my obituary with a little humor:
​
"Jubalyn was an astronaut! For 30 years!"

A Facebook post that originally appeared on the date above.

Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). You can find her writings and commentaries, including "Blood Moon: When I learned NASA Explorer School repainted astronaut mural I was part of," at landturn.com/blog.

Related: Former astronaut trainee, 82, to fulfill dream aboard commercial space flight (2021)
Related: Is new U.S. Space Force another reason to ratify Outer Space Treaty? (2020)
​Related: Why satellite more useful than WiFi to fight kidnapping in Nigeria (2021)
Related: Dark Skies in Pennsylvania (2022)
Related: August Cheyney Challenge (2023) 

The following is an archive of a political snapshot between September and Oct. 2022 on my homepage at landturn.com.

OSCE
For the 2022 mid-terms, I corresponded with election observers in Pennsylvania from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Correspondence surrounded a perspective of small-party access to the electoral process, public reception to that representation; and obstacles to campaign efforts by its candidates.

General Election
​Like 2022, I corresponded with OSCE observers dispatched to Dauphin County, Pa. for the general election between presidential headliners Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
​
Final OSCE report on the 2020 general election: www.osce.org/files/f/documents/7/7/477823.pdf​.
​
Apparently, the international monitors were barred from Pennsylvania polls under state law. Little did I know that state law would be but one obstacle to a representative election.

Jan. 2021
As a recent poll watcher, I raised multiple objections with the County Election Board for the renaming of a third-party, write-in candidate and an independent write-in candidate in the official tally. ("Ballot Access in Pennsylvania," "Ballot Access in Pennsylvania, II")

​To ensure the recognition of eligible challengers and third-party candidates in local campaigns, I ran for the Harrisburg School Board just weeks before the special election in 2021.

​Though unsuccessful and $0 in campaign funds, I garnered enough votes to maintain a ballot line not guaranteed to third-party candidates in general, and Green Party candidates in particular.​​
​
Jan. 2020
I consider my Jan. 2020 commentary "Americans also have medical debt" a viral post that provided the political inspiration for Biden's expansion of Executive Order 14009 in 2022.

​Medical Debt
In reference to an NBA player working with RIP Medical Debt, I noted that medical debt is highest in the United States. The Price We Pay, written by a surgeon at Johns Hopkins, brought this distinction to my attention. And it was the surgeon's book that I'd review after my "Medical Debt" commentary later that month.

A note on the geographic degree of separation between myself and Joe Biden via a high-profile Democratic operative with multi-generational ties to Penn State is forthcoming.

Nov. 2020​
One of my works was also the basis of a ten-part series by PennLive in 2020.

​That November, I emailed a health official and two of the leaders from a homeless advocacy group to suggest church pews, then-vacant gymns, etc. to meet the need for more beds. ("Ways to provide more beds for the homeless in Harrisburg") (Also see landturn.com/blog/this-winter-is-deadlier-for-the-homeless.)

​Homelessness
A response came less than a month later, when PennLive published its series on homelessness with multiple angles similar to the points of my email (e.g. "Scenes from a homeless shelter on a cold night amid the coronavirus").

​Leadership for one organization of which I'm a member also switched one of its planks to homeless charity from a stated interest in human trafficking awareness the month before.

At the time of this writing, the PennLive articles remain accessible to paid subscribers only. The irony that this paid exclusivity stemmed from an act of civic engagement first occurred to me only 15 months later.

Sept. 2021
Less significant but still annoying, "Spotted Lanternfly in Harrisburg" -- about the invasive species on the Riverfront -- seemed to reincarnate itself five days after I posted it.

An article with points presented in the same order as my own appeared in another publication as "Spotted, Smashed: Harrisburg City forester offers tips for dealing with spotted lanternflies". ​

For example, my blog ends, "But first thing's first: If you see one, 'Kill it! Squash it, smash it... just get rid of it.'" 

​The article ends, "The bottom line? Roane says, if you see a spotted lanternfly, smash it."

NAACP Environmental Committee
In 2021, the Pennsylvania State Conference approved my proposal for the vacant Environmental Committee of the Harrisburg NAACP. (Committee Proposal: landturn.com/blog/fires-in-harrisburg)​ As a result, I've served as founding chair of the branch committee since then. 

​Fire Safety/Prevention
More than 17 monthly progress updates on our development (June 2021 - Present) of a free educational product on fire safety and prevention is available at landturn.com/naacp.

State of the City, 2022
In her first State of the City address, Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams lauded the fire department more than 3X longer than any other. I believe the 17 updates by the Environmental Committee up to that point provided much of her talking points and disproportionate proficiency.
​
A note on the political degree of separation between myself and the mayor is forthcoming. 

​Green Party
Like summer 2020, I petitioned on foot as part of the statewide effort to gain ballot access not guaranteed to statewide Green candidates. The last of four days was with Howie Hawkins, Green Party co-founder and 2020 presidential candidate. Two days later, a small delegation of members and I delivered the requisite 5,000 signatures then approved by the Pennsylvania State Department.

Unlike 2020, state-level Democrats filed no lawsuit, which ousted Hawkins from the battleground ballot in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that year. ("Howie Hawkins campaign: my statement") (Also refer again to "Ballot Access in Pennsylvania.")

As a result, the 2022 ballot was extended to Green candidates for Governor, Lieut. Governor, and Attorney General in Pennsylvania.

Related: PA Green Party Steering Committee: bio (2023)
Related: What influenced me to reconsider participation in electoral politics (2019)
Related: Reaching out to third-party candidates for Harrisburg candidate forum (2022)
​Related: Presidential Howie Hawkins campaign: my statement (2020)
Related: Internat'l mission to U.S. elections: my correspondence (2022)