Sep. 17, 2021
HARRISBURG ¬– In the few months since Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the Pennsylvania Voting Rights Protection Act (formerly House Bill 1300), Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) reintroduced today the measure as
House Bill 1800 after the governor says he now supports voter identification.
In June, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Gov. Tom Wolf is now open to enhanced voter identification requirements in the Commonwealth. While this revelation would have been more welcomed a month ago as the General Assembly was moving House Bill 1300 through the legislative process, it is a productive development.
“Today, I have reintroduced the Voting Rights Protection Act as House Bill 1800, which protects our voting rights through three broad concepts of increased access, increased security and modernization,” Grove said. “We know access and security are not mutually exclusive.”
The Voting Rights Protection Act is solely predicated on the House State Government Committee’s extensive election oversight hearings, the most extensive election oversight work in the entire country, which focused on how our elections in Pennsylvania are administered:
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10 comprehensive election oversight hearings.
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52 testifiers including PA election directors, other state election experts, national election experts, left-leaning and right-leaning election policy advocacy groups.
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Over 30 hours of hearing time.
The Pennsylvania Voting Rights Protection Act language is updated to include the following:
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Amendment 01789 to improve poll worker retention efforts, A01793 to modernize polling location language and A01796 to modernize delivery of ballots and supplies to Judge of Elections by Rep. Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia).
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A01870 by Rep. Mark Longietti (D-Mercer) only the portions of the amendment updating “second Tuesday” to “15 days.”
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The independent prosecutor language was updated:
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Attorney General shall appoint 90 days prior to the primary election with a Senate confirmation
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County District Attorneys shall designate a prosecutor as a county election integrity officer and county board of elections shall include them in all their correspondences/election processes.
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County election equipment funding shall be through the Commonwealth Financing Authority.
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An appropriation of $3.1 million to operate the Bureau of Election Audits.
“The Pennsylvania Voting Rights Protection Act is a commonsense approach to help voters, help counties, and ensure trust in our elections,” Grove said.