“Pennsylvania had a free, fair and secure election in November 2020 with record turnout, in which people embraced mail-in voting and the results have been confirmed by two statewide audits,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement Tuesday.
“Despite the clear facts, too many Harrisburg Republicans have spent the past year spewing lies and conspiracy theories about elections because they don’t like the outcome. Now they’re trying to use their own lies as an excuse to retaliate against voters by passing an extreme election bill.”
Wolf’s pointed statement comes after a committee in the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania House advanced the election overhaul bill along party lines despite vocal opposition from Democrats. The nearly 150-page House Bill 1300, titled the Voting Rights Protection Act, contains a slew of new restrictions and changes to voter ID, signature match verification, deadlines, mail-in ballot procedures and drop boxes. It also would add new early voting rules and allow mail-in ballots to be processed and counted before Election Day — a measure requested by election officials.
Introduced just last week, the bill now heads to the House floor for a vote. If approved, it would then be sent to the state Senate. However, even if the GOP-controlled Senate approves the bill, it likely faces a veto from Wolf, who said Tuesday that the legislation is “not about improving access to voting or election security.”
