Campaigns & Elections

The misguided partisan focus on election proposals

In an op-ed, Make the Road PA’s Diana Robinson argues for greater access to the ballot box.

Voting stickers

Voting stickers Element5 Digital, Unsplash

Pennsylvania has backpedaled. Not long ago, it was the spirit of bipartisanship and negotiation that led to the most significant updates to Pennsylvania’s elections in decades. But a tidal wave of rhetoric and hyper-partisanship has since swept over the commonwealth and is threatening our voting rights, especially in communities of color.

The primary election is still fresh in people’s minds – but even though it was a success, with minimal issues, as is common, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State, some politicians are pointing the finger at minor administrative hiccups to try to repeal Act 77 of 2019 and end the state’s entire vote-by-mail process.

As with every election since Act 77 took effect, eligible voters in our communities have shown their preference for the safety, security, ease and convenience of mail-in ballots. For the May primary, voters again demonstrated their interest in mail-in ballots: Counties received nearly 800,000 applications for no-excuse mail-in ballots.

Sadly, the harsh reality is that some lawmakers are intentionally pursuing changes that would restrict accessibility and undermine the will of eligible Pennsylvania voters, thus making voting harder for our communities. None of the policies they are pushing would do anything to ameliorate anxieties about not having the time to vote, standing in line for hours, or ensuring mail-in ballots are received in time and counted.

Frequently disguised as voter protection efforts, these targeted proposals would allow voter suppression to thrive.

It is time for state lawmakers to focus on the common-sense changes that will benefit all eligible voters in every community. Despite deep divisions on some policies, there remains broad bipartisan agreement on several issues that will help to ensure every voter can freely, easily, and conveniently access the polls to have their voices heard and their votes count.

Voting in-person at polling places will continue to be a key aspect of carrying out our civic duty. However, it is time for Pennsylvania to adopt policies that reflect the hectic lifestyles and work schedules that become barriers for many engaged voters. Policies such as same-day voter registration, early in-person voting and automatic voter registration provide the opportunity for eligible voters to have their voices heard while taking into account the day-to-day obstacles that could otherwise impact participation. We must also embrace our diversity and enhance language access to reflect the growing number of residents whose first language isn’t English.

But none of this will be possible if we don’t adequately fund county election operations. The state needs to ensure the resources for carrying out safe, secure, efficient elections are made available to counties.

Both the House and Senate have measures that would ban counties from accepting third-party funds to help them administer elections – but without any corresponding measure to ensure that local election offices truly have the money they need, even though most everyone agrees they need more.

Lawmakers recently demonstrated that it’s still possible to work in a bipartisan fashion when they advanced legislation to help the commonwealth maintain its voter rolls. This work should continue. Our lawmakers need to advance bipartisan reform measures that would make the commonwealth’s election process more convenient and easier to access for every eligible voter, especially communities of color.

One common sense action lawmakers can take in advance of November is increasing the window of time for pre-canvassing. County commissioners and election officials have been calling for extending the pre-canvassing period for mail-in and absentee ballots to allow ample time for counties to prepare ballots for tabulation. A longer pre-canvassing window would provide voters more of an opportunity to “cure” ballot mistakes and enable counties to provide accurate results as soon as possible.

Extending the pre-canvassing period would alleviate some stresses on elections officials and poll workers on Election Day while being responsive to the needs of those who administer our elections. Pre-canvassing has also been identified as a key change that counties have indicated will help resolve challenges counties experienced implementing mail-in ballots in 2020 and 2021. The opportunity for lawmakers to come together and address this change is now.

Pennsylvanians don’t need the General Assembly to take divisive actions that will discourage voter participation. Instead, we need inclusive laws that strengthen our democracy and encourage participation by all eligible communities. To be responsive to the will of voters, our lawmakers must continue pursuing modernizations that will provide reliable voting access and 21st-century solutions.

Together, we can stop this assault on our freedoms by demanding lawmakers provide more money to help county election offices and allow same-day voter registration, early in-person voting and automatic voter registration. We cannot accept policies that make it harder for you, your families or your community to vote.

Diana Robinson is the civic engagement director for Make the Road PA. She advocates for issues of importance to Latinx, immigrant and working-class communities of color and works to engage and mobilize the organization’s 10,000 members to build power for justice.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.