Keystone Today

Pennsylvania Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), the author of a sweeping election reform measure in Pennsylvania, said he’s hopeful that Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) recent indication that he could now support a voter ID provision is a sign the governor is open for broader negotiations, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“The extent to which he is open for negotiations will determine what House Bill 1300 looks like when we return to session,” Grove told Keystone Today. 

He added that lawmakers need to move quickly on the legislation once they return to Harrisburg. Senate members are scheduled to return Monday, Sept. 20, and House members Monday, Sept. 27.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf | Governor.PA.gov

“This is the first item we have to clear out when we get back,” Grove said. “We have a lot on our plates, including congressional reapportionment.”

Wolf vetoed Grove’s bill, the Voting Rights Protection Act, on June 30, saying its real intent was not election reform but rather voter suppression. He cited voter ID as one of the top offending provisions. But three weeks later, the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted the governor as saying that he no longer opposes a new voter ID rule.

Pennsylvania currently has an in-person voter ID requirement but only for first-time voters.

Grove said he was “dumbfounded” when he heard that the governor had reversed his position and has asked for the governor’s office's input into the proposed legislation.

Grove told the Inquirer, “If Wolf wanted a ‘reasonable approach,’ as he said in the Inquirer interview, he should have put forth his own ideas as part of the policy-making process. This entire issue is on his administration being unwilling to come to the table and have discussions on elections.” 

Grove also told Keystone Today that Republican lawmakers, who hold the majority in both chambers, will continue to advance separate election-related legislation, including a proposed constitutional amendment requiring voter ID.

Grove’s legislation stemmed from four months of hearings by the House State Government Committee, which he chairs, about Pennsylvania’s election laws and practices.

“The message from counties throughout the past year was clear: The current system does not work, and they need help,” Grove wrote, according to his official website. “The Pennsylvania Voting Rights Protection Acts provides that help by restoring the deadline to register to vote to 30 days before an election and the deadline to request a ballot to 15 days prior to an election, both of which were clear priorities expressed by county election officials.”

The bill also allows counties to have five days before Election Day to begin canvassing absentee and mail-in ballots, while it also calls for permitting early voting six days before Election Day, starting in 2025. Counties will be required to continue counting votes until results are determined.

Democratic and progressive critics say the only reason Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers have pushed for election changes is that former President Donald Trump lost the state by about 80,000 votes in the 2020 election, claiming unproven voter fraud. Trump had previously carried the state in 2016.

The results of a Franklin & Marshall College poll released just days before Wolf vetoed HB 1300 show that 74% of Pennsylvania voters are in favor of voter ID.