The Punxsutawney Spirit

Republican election bill pushed ahead over Dems’ objections

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HARRISBURG (AP) — Republican­s on a legislativ­e committee Tuesday pushed out a multifacet­ed proposal to revamp Pennsylvan­ia election law, a bill that backers said would make needed improvemen­ts and standardiz­e procedures.

Democrats were dead set against it, insisting that many of its purported upgrades were unworkable or would, in practice, make voting more difficult. The vote to advance it to the House floor was on party lines.

“Even the provisions that are supposed to increase access to the ballot box don’t actually do that,” said Rep. Margo Davidson of Delaware County, the ranking Democrat on the State Government Committee, asserting the legislatio­n contained “unfunded mandates all over the place.”

The House’s Republican majority called a series of 10 committee hearings this year to consider changes to the state’s election law, a process prompted in large part by former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his narrow loss of the state in November and his baseless claims the result was because of fraud.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, the committee’s chairman, introduced the 149-page bill last week that would change deadlines, adopt new rules for early voting, alter mail-in ballot procedures and mandate IDs for in-person voters.

Grove said Tuesday his proposal would ensure security around elections and rebuild trust, along with modernizin­g procedures.

The party line votes were an ominous sign for supporters because whatever the GOP majority General Assembly passes will need support from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. Wolf’s press secretary has called the bill extremist and a retaliatio­n against voters.

Davidson said some of the election security measures, including a host of post-vote reviews and audits, would encourage “every nut job in the world coming out to demand the election be investigat­ed.”

“Some of the so-called audit functions that are outlined in this bill will create a circuslike atmosphere similar to Arizona,” where a troubled postelecti­on review ordered by legislativ­e Republican­s in that state is continuing, Davidson said. “It makes it easier for Republican­s to cheat and harder for voters to vote.”

The registrati­on deadline would change from 15 days to 30 days before to an election, and mail-in ballots would have to be requested 15 days before the vote. Drop boxes for mail-in ballots would be limited to seven days before an election, and have to be monitored by election inspectors from the major political parties.

The bill calls for new rules for fixing problems on mail-in ballots envelopes, such as lack of signatures or dates, and counties would have to issue registrati­on cards that in-person voters would have to show.

Several Republican­s on the committee said they wanted uniform election procedures to address inconsiste­nt practices among counties regarding ballot drop boxes and whether to fix technical mistakes on mail-in ballot envelopes.

Rep. Jeff Wheeland, R-Lycoming, praised elements that would make it easier for disabled people to cast votes.

But Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelph­ia, called the bill “150 pages of garbage and what is nothing more than artisanal voter suppressio­n.” He chided Republican­s for not crafting a much more narrow bill that addressed commonly supported changes.

“This is not what anybody was asking for,” Kenyatta said. “But this is what happens when you lie. Because once you start lying, you can’t stop lying.”

The state’s counties have said they want time to start counting mail-in ballots before election day and an earlier deadline for applying for an absentee ballot.

Also Tuesday, Republican­s on the Senate State Government Committee approved a proposed constituti­onal amendment to expand the identifica­tion requiremen­t for voters who cast their ballot in-person or by mail.

Democrats said voter identifica­tion laws have been used to disenfranc­hise voters and that the provision applying to mail-in voting — requiring the voter to insert a photocopy of their identifica­tion into their ballot envelope — will compromise the secrecy of someone’s ballot.

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SETH GROVE

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