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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | July 31, 2020 10:29 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Christopher M. Rabb |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Strengthening measures to protect voters' ballots across our commonwealth |
| Act 77 of 2019 brought historic changes to the way in which we conduct our elections, including allowing registered voters to cast their ballot safely by mail. Nevertheless, our county boards of elections experienced an influx of mail-in and absentee ballot applications in our most recent Primary Election which made it difficult to send ballots in a timely manner to our voters. Furthermore, the continued security of and trust in our elections is paramount, especially as we permit large numbers of completed ballots to be sent to county boards of election before Election Day The voters of this state deserve to be sent their ballots as efficiently as possible, just as they deserve to know we are taking every precaution to ensure the continued security of our elections. For these reasons, I plan to introduce legislation that will offer several election-related reforms. My bill will change the deadline for submitting an absentee or a mail-in ballot application to 15 days before Election Day. This will give our county boards of election ample time to send mail-in ballots to voters. My bill will also allow ballots to be opened 15 days before Election Day but will require that ballots not be counted until the close of the polls. This ensures ballots can be prepared for tallying, but that results will not be prematurely released. Finally, my bill will increase the security around our elections. It will require that ballots be stored in a room monitored by video and audio surveillance, that Pennsylvania State Police troopers provide security at the entrance to this room, and that the Department of State cross-reference voter rolls with the Social Security Death Index to remove voters who have died out-of-state. These efforts will amplify the security, transparency, and efficiency of our elections while instilling greater public confidence in our election process. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |