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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 27, 2024 09:40 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Cris Dush |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Enhancing Voter List Maintenance |
| Very soon, I will introduce legislation to modernize the sources and requirements for county election administrators to update voter rolls. Pennsylvania’s voter rolls are chronically and demonstrably outdated. Every year, some 125,000 Pennsylvanians pass away. In 2021 alone, some 318,000 people moved out of state. Our current Secretary of State previously testified that tens of thousands of noncitizens may unwittingly be registered to vote, and recent reviews have found as many as 80,000 duplicate voter registrations. Federal and state laws require annual maintenance of voter rolls. However, our state laws are deficient in providing election administrators with the necessary tools and data to fulfill this obligation. In some instances, outside watchdog groups have had to resort to lawsuits to compel counties to remove inaccuracies, totaling as many as 200,000 entries. As recently stated by Pennsylvania's Secretary of State, “Well-maintained lists promote well-conducted elections. List maintenance helps election administrators allocate resources, reduce wait times at the polls, and ensure the security of our elections.” This legislation, which has been carefully developed in consultation with the Department of State and multiple election administrators and interest groups, will modernize and enhance the requirements, methods, and sources of data that counties can and should use to update the lists. I urge you to join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to strengthen confidence in elections by helping remove ineligible voters from the rolls. |