FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2021
Contact: Prudence Robertson, probertson@sbalist.org, (240) 672-2828
Washington, D.C. – Today the Election Transparency Initiative applauded the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for advancing the Voting Rights Protection Act (H.B. 1300), comprehensive election integrity and security legislation introduced by Rep. Seth Grove (R-York). Importantly, this landmark legislation would help bolster fair and transparent elections in Pennsylvania while improving voter access through some of the following measures:
- County-issued voter ID protections
- Signature verification to verify voter eligibility
- Establishing a Bureau of Election Audits
- Updated procedures to help voters with disabilities
- Speed-up lines at polling places
- Enhance training and higher pay for election workers
- State funding to help pay for elections
- Poll observer protections
- Penalties for trying to intimidate an election official
- Expand voter registration deadline (15 days to 30 days before election)
- Drop box security
- Voter list maintenance
National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued the following statement praising the legislation:
“Now more than ever, it is incumbent on our elected leaders to help restore faith and confidence in a system of elections where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. To that end, the package put forward by Rep. Grove offers promising solutions that would bolster voter trust, expand ballot access, and strengthen certainty in secure and transparent elections where every voice is counted fairly and legally. Pennsylvanians deserve common sense voter I.D. protections – overwhelmingly popular among voters of every single demographic. We urge the Pennsylvania Senate to move expeditiously in considering this bill so Governor Wolf can sign it as soon as possible.”
According to the latest Franklin & Marshall College Poll, large majorities of respondents favor signature matching for mail-in ballots (81 percent) as well as photo identification requirements (74 percent).
Recent polling shows the majority of voters, including Black and Hispanic as well as urban and independent voters, overwhelmingly support voter I.D. protections and want it to be easy to vote and hard to cheat.
The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between American Principles Project (APP) and the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), was organized to combat H.R. 1/S. 1 and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.
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