The ballot’s mission creep

This is not progress, but mission creep and an unneeded diversion. Gender does not predict votes, shape policy, or reveal judgment. It just satisfies a quota;

Greg Maresca ——Bio and Archives--May 30, 2026

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In an era saturated with identity markers, qualifiers, and classifications, the voting booth used to stand as a last refuge of simplicity: a name, a party, a choice.

When I voted in this year’s Pennsylvania primary, I noticed something new. Candidates for the Republican State Committee were listed not just by name, but by gender. It was a first and hopefully not the beginning of a trend where the ballot becomes a biography.

A party official in Harrisburg explained that the inclusion of gender reflects national GOP bylaws requiring equal representation of men and women among convention delegates. Since the ballot is the mechanism for selecting those delegates, voters need that information to produce the proper mix to ensure those numbers come out right.

What looks like a ballot is now doubling as a compliance form. That........

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