Pa. lawmakers review legislation to allow counting of mail-in ballots before Election Day

Lawmakers in the General Assembly are reviewing potential legislation that would allow election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots before 7 a.m. on Election Day, a provision that advocates say will be crucial in getting timely election results in November.

While voting-by-mail election reforms have faced political pushback from Republicans in some parts of the country, some Republican leaders in the state have embraced the need for election reform after seeing delayed results from the June 2 primary.

Voting-by-mail has become somewhat of a partisan topic for some lawmakers, with many Republicans, including President Trump, claiming that a vote-by-mail system would encourage voter fraud.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law on Thursday (HB2502) requiring the Pennsylvania Department of State to publish a report on the June 2 primary. The goal is to help identify what changes need to be made before the general election in November.

“Thanks to historic election reform last year, voters were able to embrace new mail-in voting and use new voting machines. Now we must prepare for the presidential election and the huge turnout that is expected in November. This report will help to pinpoint ways to make our election process better,” Wolf said in a statement.

The June primary was the first statewide election where voters could submit their ballots by mail without having to explain why they couldn’t vote in person. Wolf signed the bipartisan legislation in October 2019; the bill had strong bipartisan support.

While primary elections typically do not see high turnout, people voted by mail-in and absentee ballots 17 times more during this year’s primary than people voting by absentee ballots in the 2016 presidential election, according to the state department. With the coronavirus pandemic, many welcomed the chance to cast ballots without going to the polls.

Amid COVID-19, more than 1.8 million Pennsylvanians applied for mail-in ballots to vote in the June 2 primary, and final results were still being counted in the days after polls closed.

The current election code doesn’t allow election officials to begin counting ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar called for the need to work with the General Assembly on implementing early canvassing on June 2 as delayed results were rolling in.

Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman for the state deparment, wrote in an email to PennLive that her office has always been supportive of early canvassing, and they hope to work with the Legislature to enable this provision for the general election.

In a Tuesday interview with Fox News, former Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican, called on the need for election officials to begin early counting of mail-in and absentee ballots so that we can have election results the night of November 3.

In regards to Trump’s pushback on a mail-in system, Ridge said he finds it counter-intuitive to discourage voting by mail when that could increase Republican turnout for Trump and other incumbent congressmen.

“First of all I would say to the president — you have the bully pulpit, you’re the incumbent President of the United States, … you have a massive war chest, you have millions of people who follow you electronically, you’ve got a strong national party … why not maximize all the assets you have to get this huge turnout?” Ridge said in the interview.

In a statement from Chuck Erdman, chief of staff to State Government Committee Chairman Sen. John DiSanto, he said while the Legislature waits for the report from the Department of State, the committee staff has been working with county election officials and other stakeholders “on a broad range of election issues.”

“Based upon initial conversations, I expect mail-in ballot deadline changes, pre-canvassing activities and voter list management will be key topics for us to consider. To the extent there is consensus on any changes needed, we will look to move them in either existing or new legislation in enough time for them to be implemented prior to the general election,” Erdman wrote in an email to PennLive.

Chairman of the House State Government Committee, Garth Everett, R-Lycoming County, wrote in an email to PennLive that he hopes to speak with Boockvar in the next week.

“We are in the process of collecting input from election directors and House members on how things went in the primary and starting to draft some legislation,” Everett said in an email.

Nonpartisan voter protection groups, like Common Cause, expressed concern over what primary day glitches could look like during the general election. Along with election officials getting swamped with mail-in ballots, consolidated polling places created confusion for voters trying to find their precinct, and crowded precincts were exacerbated by a shortage of polling workers and social-distancing guidelines.

Rep. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia County, said it would be ideal for early canvassing to begin a couple of weeks before Election Day so that election officials can build a list of who has already voted by mail-in ballots.

“It’s actually a more secure process if we empower commissioners to do the things they do best, but allow them to do it much earlier,” Solomon said.

Solomon, a member of the House State Government Committee, said there are cosponsorship memos circulating and that it is his understanding that the committee will take up issues relating to early canvassing.

“I can’t understand why [counting ballots] is a Republican issue or Democratic issue, it’s just good for democracy,” Solomon said. “It’s knowing the mechanics of Election Day, to ensure that the democratic process works.”