Election

The latest attempt to manipulate Pennsylvania's presidential vote provided another opportunity for Democrats to howl about cheating Republicans. And they had a point. But if state legislators from both parties want to do something more useful - and, yes, that's a big if - they should back a politically neutral proposal to end all such attempts to rig presidential elections. State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Chester) recently introduced a long-threatened bill to award most of Pennsylvania's presidential electors in proportion to the state's popular vote.

THE GOOD NEWS: Voters will not - repeat, not - be required to show ID in the May 21 primary. The two sides in the long-running suit over Pennsylvania's voter-ID law have agreed that voter ID will not be enforced during in the primary. The bad news: Unfortunately, that does not mean an end to this case, under legal challenge since the Legislature passed the voter-ID law last spring. It remains under review in Commonwealth Court. A full hearing on the merits won't be until July 15 and any decision, pro or con, will likely be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Thirty-nine candidates will vie for three open alumni seats on Pennsylvania State University's 32-member board of trustees, the university announced this week. That's a crowded field, but not as crowded as last year, when more than 80 candidates competed for three seats in the aftermath of the child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. This week, ballot positions for the election were determined through a drawing. Penn State alumni will be able to obtain ballots for the election online beginning April 10, Paula R. Ammerman, associate secretary of the board, said in a statement.

DAMASCUS, Syria - Iran and Syria on Saturday condemned a U.S. plan to assist rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad and signaled the Syrian leader intended to stay in power at least until the 2014 presidential elections. The remarks came against the backdrop of a strategic victory for the regime as the military regained control over a string of villages along a key highway to open a potential supply route in Syria's heavily contested north. The army command boasted of the achievement, saying it had eradicated the remnants of "terrorist agents and mercenaries" in the area that links the government-controlled central city of Hama with Aleppo's international airport.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, whose chance political ascendancy made him one of the youngest heads of a major American city, announced Friday that he would not seek reelection, just 11 days after formally announcing his run. The mayor opened the press conference saying he was proud of what he and his staff have accomplished during his tenure. He said that all had come at a cost. "Those who have paid the greatest cost are those who are closest to me. " The 33-year-old mayor has held office since 2006, when he rose to fill the position when Mayor Bob O'Connor died.

CAIRO - Egypt's largest opposition bloc said Tuesday that it would boycott the country's forthcoming parliamentary elections, heightening the prospect of future instability after months of political crisis and damaging the credibility of the country's fledgling democracy. The National Salvation Front, a loose coalition of liberal and leftist political parties, said that it would boycott the late April vote because the Islamist government of President Mohamed Morsi did not consult it in passing a new electoral law and disregarded pressure from the group for, among other things, a new cabinet and a redrafting of the country's constitution.

The panel established by Mayor Nutter to study the city's Election Day operations is getting a cold shoulder from current city commissioners, who initially thought it would be a collaborative effort but now suspect the panel is looking for reasons to abolish the Commissioners' Office rather than improve it. Now the mayor's panel, headed by Managing Director Richard Negrin, is reaching out for advice to longtime Commissioner Marge Tartaglione, who...

By Chris Bonneau Once again, the Pennsylvania legislature is considering a change in how state Supreme Court justices are selected. Under the current system, justices attain their seats in a competitive partisan election, and they keep their positions through noncompetitive retention elections. Some lawmakers are proposing that a commission nominate candidates, with the governor selecting a justice from among those nominees. Justices would still keep their seats in noncompetitive retention elections.

THERE'S a very good chance that the next pope will hail from Africa. But there's an even better chance that he'll be the first pope to use an iPhone. The stunning news Monday that 85-year-old Pope Benedict XVI will be the first pontiff in nearly six centuries to resign gives the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church another crack at what it passed up on in 2005: The opportunity to elect a pope who truly reflects the complexities of the 21st century. "For the first time, the pope will be used to having a computer on his desk and a smartphone in his pocket," enthused Rocco Palmo, the Philadelphian who chronicles Vatican affairs on his popular blog Whispers in the Loggia.