Much-needed change is coming to state election laws
Who ever thought the day would come when Republicans – especially Republicans here in Delaware County – would be hailing the demise of straight-ticket voting?
Well, hold on to your ballots, Pennsylvania, the state is slowly but surely changing the way we vote.
The state House Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation that would make several crucial changes in state elections. The Senate followed suit later in the day. The margin in the House was 138-61; in the Senate it was
35-15 in favor. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf, who has indicated he would sign the measure.
The bill would offer a few noticeable changes that will make it easier for people to cast a ballot. Among them:
• Allowing any voter to cast a ballot by mail, up to 50 days before an election
• Expanding the window for new voters to register, pushing the current deadline of 30 days before the election, to 15 days.
• Allowing absentee or mail-in ballots to arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day, when the polls routinely close now, as opposed to the current standard of 5 p.m. the Friday before Election Day.
The bill would also provide millions of dollars in state funding for local municipalities to comply with the state mandate to purchase new voting machines. Delaware County made its decision last week to spend $6 million on new machines that will create a paper ballot backup record of the vote. The machines must be in place by the spring primary in
2020.
The new law and voting changes – hailed by Gov. Tom Wolf as a “major advancement for elections in Pennsylvania” – also could be in effect for the primary in which the two major parties will be nominating candidates for president.
The bipartisan compromise legislation accomplishes two key reforms of voting reform advocates – making the voting process in Pennsylvania both more convenient and more accessible.
That does not mean everyone is happy.
Some Democrats, in particular in Philadelphia, where the Dems hold an overwhelming edge in voter registration, are less than thrilled that voters will no longer be able to simply pull a lever and vote a straight-party ticket. They suggested the move, coupled with the new machines, could create nightmare confusion and long delays at polling places, in effect negating one of the main purposes of the bill.
Most of the no votes came from Democrats, with most lamenting the bill does not do enough to expand access, and that the elimination of straight-party voting will fall heavily on urban, minority and lower-income voters who sue it as a convenience.
Here in Delaware County, where Republicans once held an overwhelming 3-1 voter registration edge for decades, but where the tide has turned and Democrats now hold a growing majority in voter registration, don’t expect any flowery eulogies for straight-party ticket voting from the GOP.
It was once their bread and butter. But those days are long gone. Now they depend on another trend, that of voters backing Democrats nationally but sticking with Republicans locally.
Ticket-splitting is likely to be the new way of life for county Republicans, much as it had been for decades for the suddenly musclebound Delco Democrats.
Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, backed the measure – and even took a shot at old-time political “bosses” in the process.
“Pennsylvania’s election laws have effectively limited ballot access and reinforced the power of political bosses,” Killion said. “With the passage of Senate Bill 421, those laws have finally moved into the 21st Century. It will be easier for Pennsylvanians to register to vote, create a de factor vote-by-mail system, and eliminate the antiquated ‘straight-party’ option.”
Well, OK, then senator. How do you really feel?
Killion also zeroed in on one major flaw in the measure. It does not address state laws that prevent the state’s 800,000 registered Independent voters from taking part in the primary system.
“We have more work to do, but it is a step in the right direction,” Killion said. “It will expand ballot access, make our elections more secure, limit the influence of party bosses and promote a better informed electorate.”
We can’t argue with that. The measure drew wide support, including the backing of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, in particular for the $90 million in funding help toward purchasing new machines, and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. That group had actually gone to court to challenge the current absentee ballot law in court. Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and the anti-corruption group March on Harrisburg also got behind the measure.
We concur with all of them, as well as Gov. Wolf, who called the measure “a giant leap forward that makes voting more convenient for millions of Pennsylvanians and improves our election security.”
It gets our vote.