On today’s episode of The Confluence: Some conservative activists want to eliminate electronic voting machines and are petitioning their counties to add a ballot question, taking the proposal to voters; an initiative from the University of Pittsburgh looks to make homes more accessible so aging residents can continue to live independently; and we speak to two professors at Pennsylvania Western University who received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study the influence of learning communities on student outcomes. Today’s guests include: Gillian McGoldrick, Harrisburg bureau chief for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Everette James, director of the Health Policy Institute at the University of Pittsburgh; and Peter Cormas, associate professor in the Department of Education, and Kyle Frederick, professor in the Department of Geosciences, at Pennsylvania Western University.