The Pennsylvania Senate recently approved the Voting Rights Protection Act (House Bill 1300).
“I want to thank the Senate for its quick action approving the most comprehensive election bill in the country,” said the bill’s sponsor, House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove (R-York). “It is now up to Gov. Tom Wolf to fulfill the will of the people, who said they want a more secure voting process, as well as more access and a more modernized election process.
“According to a recent poll by Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, 74 percent of those polled support requirements that voters show an identification card when voting in person and 81 percent are in favor of signature verification. Both of the measures, as well as an assortment of others, such as early voting, allowing voters to correct non-fatal errors on mail-in ballots, yearly election audits and much more, are included in the bill.”
Grove said the bill would “ensure no voter would be disenfranchised by giving all voters an enhanced durable, scannable voter registration identification card, much like the identification cards currently issued to voters to be used when voting in person.” He added that voters can also use other identification cards nearly all Pennsylvanians already possess.
“According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, there are 8.7 million registered voters in the state,” said Grove. “Statistics from the Department of Transportation show 9 million Pennsylvanians have a driver’s license.”
Pennsylvania House Democrats previously voted against the legislation. Wolf also denounced it.
“The 2020 election was safe and secure,” said House Democratic Policy Committee chairman Ryan Bizzarro, adding that the bill is a “waste of time and resources.” “Every voter who tried to vote for their dead mother was caught, and those were Republican voters. The current system is safe, secure and it works. We should be listening to the Republican and Democratic election officials statewide that asked for legislative fixes to address allowing them to securely process votes in an efficient manner with things like pre-canvassing and extended time for processing.”
“Our mandate as Americans is to ensure that everyone can exercise their right to vote. Our mandate as legislators is to make that as easy as possible for our families, friends and neighbors,” said Rep. Pete Schweyer, D-Lehigh, vice chair of the House Democratic Policy Committee. “This legislation does the opposite and anyone who voted for it should be ashamed to go home and look these people in the eye.”
“The arbitrary limit of one dropbox per 100,000 residents, which must be evenly distributed throughout the county, is blatantly aimed at preventing access to urban populations like Philadelphia,” said committee vice chair Mary Isaacson, D-Phila. “Why? Because they vote Democratic.”
House Bill 1300 passed the House by a vote of 110-91 before moving to the Senate.
“As the governor has not engaged the General Assembly in good faith negotiations, the Voting Rights Protection Act will be the best deal for the governor for the remainder of his term in office,” added Grove. “Should the bill not become law, the Senate has moved Sen. Judy Ward’s Senate Bill 735 to require voter identification via a constitutional amendment. We will take election reform directly to the people and bypass the executive branch. Considering the strong support of voter identification, it is highly likely it would be approved by voters.
“It is my hope the governor signs the Voting Rights Protection Act into law. Another option would be for him not to sign it, but allow it to become law without his signature.”
