The Law Center is part of a coalition of organizations from across the state that believe that ensuring that elections are free, fair, and accessible to all Pennsylvanians will strengthen our democracy.
This coalition sent a letter to Governor-Elect Tom Wolf in December to express support for the three major reforms–early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, and same-day voter registration–for which Governor-Elect Wolf has expressed support.
The coalition also laid out some issues that it believes can be addressed by the Department of State and that don’t require legislative intervention:
- Opportunities to improve voter registration. We have the technology to add more than a million voters to the rolls and make sure no one loses the right to vote because they move.
- Improve language access. Considering the diverse needs of Pennsylvania voters, the Department of State should translate all election information on the state’s website.
- Support county election administrators more effectively. The Department of State should provide guidance to the counties to clarify election law on issues such as voter eligibility, registration application acceptance, provisional ballot use, and voter intimidation/harassment charges.
The coalition also requested a meeting with the Department of State to discuss these items and more in greater detail.