Judge dismisses election suit against Shapiro, Biden
Pa. GOP lawmakers’ claims are rejected
HARRISBURG — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by 27 Republican state lawmakers against President Joe Biden, Gov. Josh Shapiro and other officials that claimed they usurped the Legislature’s authority to run elections by methods that included Mr. Shapiro’s September announcement of automatic voter registration.
In a memorandum, U.S. District Judge Jennifer P. Wilson said the the court did not have jurisdiction on the topic because the lawmakers did not have the standing to raise the claims at the heart of the case. Judge Wilson said the injuries the group of Republicans allege are “suffered equally by each Pennsylvania legislator” and that the group “have not alleged any individualized and particularized harm.”
In a statement, Mr. Shapiro said: “In 2020, I defeated Donald Trump and his conspiracy theorist allies in court more than 40 times to defend Pennsylvanians’ votes andprotect access to the ballot box. Today, we’ve done it again by getting their frivolous effort to stop automatic voter registration in our Commonwealth dismissed. Automatic voter registration is safe, secure, efficient, and entirely within my administration’s authority.”
The plaintiffs were led by state Rep. Dawn Keefer, R-York, and a candidate for state Senate. Many are members of the conservative Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus, of which Ms. Keefer is a leader.
The state House was in session Tuesday afternoon, and afterward, Ms. Keefer said she could not comment because she had not yet seen the judge’s memo. A White House spokesperson declined comment, and a U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Several western Pennsylvania lawmakers were among the plaintiffs, including state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-Lawrence. Mr. Bernstine said the group would explore its legal options, including a possible appeal.
Mr. Shapiro on Sept. 19 announced executive action that immediately changed the prompts on computer screens at PennDOT driver’s license centers. The new configuration meant that a user would have to opt out of registering to vote. Under the previous format, the user had to make a choice to opt in.
The change led to an immediate increase in the overall numbers of voter registration applications. Secretary of State Al Schmidt, the state’s top election official, told lawmakers the number of new registrations coming from the revised PennDOT procedures do not favor either one of the major parties more than the other.
Mr. Schmidt was one of the defendants named in the suit, along with top Department of State elections official Jonathan Marks and various federal agencies.