Happy Valley Times

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and likely candidate for governor, applauded fellow Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of a sweeping election reform law (House Bill 1300) that stemmed from four months of legislative hearings into the state’s decades' old election code.

Both Shapiro and Wolf defended the veto, using the rationale popular among other Democratic leaders that recent election reforms approved by many state legislatures, nearly all of them Republican controlled, are little more than efforts to suppress minority voter turnout. Critics says both are bucking the findings of numerous independent polls, including one conducted by a Pennsylvania university, showing the majority of voters, including minority voters, support many of the provisions in the election reform legislation.

“Make no mistake, the Wolf-Shapiro veto put party politics before the people who should come first,” said Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican and  former Virginia attorney general and the national chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative. “Gov. Wolf and Attorney General Shapiro should put their pen and platform to use by supporting legislation giving people confidence that it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat in our elections, not by doubling down on a system where it’s easy to cheat and hard to prove.”

Former President Donald Trump has blamed his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden on unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Trump lost Pennsylvania, a state he carried in 2016, by more than 80,000 votes.

A Franklin & Marshall College poll showed that 81% of Pennsylvania voters across the board favor signature matching for mail-in ballots, and 74% support voter ID requirements. The results match voter sentiment nationwide.

HB 1300, introduced by state Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), chairman of the House State Government Committee, includes provisions to increase voter access, and tighten election security. This includes faster lines at polling places, increased assistance for voters with disabilities, and a voter ID requirement, Election Transparency Initiative reports.

Cuccinelli told the Happy Valley Times that the voter ID requirement – often cited in voter suppression arguments -- in the Grove legislation is along the lines of one proposed by West Virginia U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat, as part of an alternative measure to Senate Bill 1 (and House Resolution 1), legislation that would effectively federalize elections.

“Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) has endorsed Manchin’s voter ID because he and other Democrats are starting to see from the polling that all the claims of voter suppression and racism aren’t moving the needle,” Cuccinelli said. “The majority of voters still favor voter ID and other reforms.”

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is on summer recess, but GOP legislative leaders say they will again push for election reforms in the fall, including a proposed constitutional amendment requiring voter ID. If approved in successive legislative sessions, the amendment goes straight to the voters, circumventing the governor.

Pennsylvania State Sens. Jake Corman (R-Centre) and Kim Ward (R-Hempfield) recently indicated that the Pennsylvania Senate would continue to fight for election reform despite the governor’s veto. They issued a joint statement asserting that "In spite of this setback, Senate Republicans will continue our efforts to strengthen our election system, improve voter participation and access, and support our counties in managing our elections. Our Special Committee on Election Integrity and Reform identified a more limited set of recommendations that were approved with bipartisan support. Those recommendations will form the basis of our election reform efforts in the fall," WGAL reports.

The Franklin & Marshall poll showing the majority of the electorate supporting voter ID also shows Wolf’s positive job approval rating at 39%. His second four-year term ends in January 2023. The Pennsylvania Constitution limits governors to two successive terms.  

According to the Honest Elections Project, 64% of voters, including black (51%) and Hispanic (66%) voters, as well as urban (59%) and independent (61%) voters, want to increase voting safeguards that mitigate fraud – not decrease them.