Included in the bill is a provision to give counties the ability to start counting mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day. | Stock Photo
Included in the bill is a provision to give counties the ability to start counting mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day. | Stock Photo
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is considering recently finalized election reform legislation, with state lawmakers expected to vote on dozens on changes to the way that elections are conducted within the state before Christmas, according to Pittsburgh's NPR News Station.
“Voters should not have to wait a day or two for trustworthy election results. There have been cases in which a candidate went to bed on election night thinking he or she won, only to find out otherwise the next morning because all the votes hadn’t been counted the previous night,” Pennsylvania Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) said, according to his website.
The new reforms would require absentee and mail-in ballots received before Election Day be opened and counted by 9 p.m. election night, and all mail-in and absentee ballots received on Election Day would need to be opened and counted by 2 a.m. the following day. Also, election offices must compute all returns from each precinct, with the exception of provisional ballots, and all canvassed mail-in or absentee ballots by no later than 6 a.m. the day after the election. The bill already includes a provision to give counties the ability to start counting mail-in ballots before Election Day.
“This amendment provides a more-than-reasonable time frame to ensure accurate results are delivered on time,” Grove said, according to his website.
Recently, Nathan Benefield, vice president and COO of the Commonwealth Foundation, wrote an op-ed for Keystone Today advocating for these election reform measures.
"By putting these measures into place, Pennsylvania can prevent another election fiasco," Benefield wrote. "As for 2020, a fiasco is what we’ve got -- and it’s a direct consequence of a governor and state court inhibiting a fair and transparent process for counting every vote."
He noted that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has created issues impacting the speed and reliability of the state's elections, to the point that petitions were filed to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the state's policies. Justice Samuel Alito implied, however, that the justices could revisit the issue, noting “a strong likelihood that the state Supreme Court decision violates the federal Constitution.”
Final legislative approval is expected in mid-December.
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