Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Voting Rights Briefing Book April 2019
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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VOTING RIGHTS BRIEFING BOOK APRIL 2019 Updated:ABSTRACT September 2019 This is a briefing book on the current state of voting rights in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania prepared by the urban league of Philadelphia, the national commission for voter justice, and the transformative justice coalition. It is specific to Pennsylvania and is an updated compilation of the center for American progress’s statistics on voting information and recommendations, as well as original research. It also includes information on recent legal challenges, articles about voting issues; ballot accessibility; and a partial list of local organizations in Pennsylvania committed to voting rights. Lastly, this briefing book summarizes two hearings held by the national commission for voter justice held over the 2018 summer. The National Commission for Voter Justice is administered by the Transformative Justice Coalition. Please visit http://nationalcvj.org for more information. By: Julia Nolan, Esq.; 2019 updates insert at end of book by David Penney and Caitlyn Cobb Philadelphia Urban League and Transformative Justice Coalition Fellow Nolan,Julia REILLY JANICZEK & MCDEVITT | [COMPANY ADDRESS] Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 3 Policy Recommendations....................................................................................................... 5 Election Security in Pennsylvania ........................................................................................... 6 Pennsylvania Voting Conditions ............................................................................................. 9 Voter Population in Pennsylvania ........................................................................................ 10 Pennsylvania State Legislature Demographics ...................................................................... 13 Pennsylvania Voting Laws .................................................................................................... 16 Qualifications to Register ...................................................................................................................... 16 Methods of Registration ........................................................................................................................ 16 Felons ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 Language Accommodations ................................................................................................................... 16 Voting Identification .............................................................................................................................. 17 Absentee Ballot ...................................................................................................................................... 17 Pennsylvania Ends Participation in Interstate Crosscheck Voter Registration Program and Denies Trump Administration’s Request for Personal Information on Registered Voters ............................. 18 Recent Legal Challenges to Voting Laws in Pennsylvania ...................................................... 19 Articles about Voting Issues in Pennsylvania ........................................................................ 23 Partial List of Local Voting Rights Organizations in Pennsylvania .......................................... 27 Facebook Hearing Summaries .............................................................................................. 28 Hearing #1 .............................................................................................................................................. 28 Hearing #2 .............................................................................................................................................. 29 Pennsylvania Briefing Book Update 2019 ............................................................................. 30 Pennsylvania Legislator Profile ............................................................................................................... 30 Voter Turnout ......................................................................................................................................... 31 Legislation ............................................................................................................................................... 31 Article ...................................................................................................................................................... 32 1 Introduction In comparison to many states, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has several, major, existing barriers to full voting participation by its electorate in our American Democracy. For example, Pennsylvania does not allow 16-17 year old preregistration, early voting or same day registration. Pennsylvania has one of the nation's shortest deadlines for submission of absentee ballots which has denied many voters the right to have their ballots counted. Critically, Pennsylvania's voting machinery is old and vulnerable to hacking requiring a major overhaul prior to the 2020 Presidential Election. Pennsylvania remains behind in the movement to adopt Automatic Voter Registration which has now been implemented in 15 states. Nor does the state provide a process for citizen's ballot initiatives which have been so valuable in other states for electoral reform including the ability to address partisan gerrymandering. Many vulnerable voters continue to experience disenfranchisement at the polls, including African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, students and people with disabilities. This report summarizes several cases that have been brought in recent years to protect the rights of minority voters and to protect voters from disenfranchisement. Despite a great increase in overall voter turn-out in the 2018 Midterm Election, the Pennsylvania Election Protection Coalition reported numerous obstacles and problems that confronted voters, especially these vulnerable voters at the polls, and in the absentee balloting process. Long lines and inefficient election administration were cited in the Coalition's report. Fortunately, there are many voting rights, civic engagement, good government and civil rights organizations working to advance electoral reform in the state to provide empowerment for all. There remains an urgent need for citizen participation to guarantee all eligible voters an equal and equitable chance to vote and have their ballots counted. Governor Wolf has been supportive of the reform movement. In a letter dated June 30, 2017, denying a request from the now defunct Trump Administration's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity's request for personal information of registered voters in the state, he stated, "Voter suppression is undemocratic and I will not allow Pennsylvania to participate in this process to further the trend of suppression seen across the country." Pennsylvania then ended its participation in the Interstate Crosscheck Registration System which has been notorious for inaccuracy and the false labeling of voters as duplicate voters leading to excessive voter purging. In addition, the Governor has been active in seeking a fix to Pennsylvania's voting machine crisis. It is our hope that this briefing book will serve as a user-friendly educational resource to assist Pennsylvanians in understanding the state of voting rights in the Commonwealth and how they can become involved in assisting their fellow voters. The Urban League of Philadelphia, the National Commission for Voter Justice and the Transformative Justice Coalition will undertake a series of educational lectures and other outreach to share the content of this Briefing book with the general public and students in higher educational institutions. 2 Overview1 The Center for American Progress Action Fund produced this research based on a number of factors, many of which are listed below. For more detailed explanations regarding methods and other data, please visit: https://healthofstatedemocracies.org/states/pennsylvania.html Accessibility to the Ballot Pennsylvania’s Current Law Availability of voter preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds No Availability of online voter registration Yes2 Availability of portable voter registration No portable registration Availability of early of in-person absentee voting No early voting Availability of no-fault absentee voting No Voter ID laws No ID necessary Voting wait time, 2008 and 2012 2008: 14.5 minutes 2012: 9.1 minutes Provisional balloting rate, 2008 and 2012 2008: 0.54%, 2012: 0.85% Participation in the Interstate Crosscheck System No Motor Vote implementation performance 40.22% (High Tier) Grade F (44th Place) 1 https://healthofstatedemocracies.org/states/pennsylvania.html 2 Since August 27, 2015, eligible Pennsylvanians have the opportunity to go online or complete their voter registration forms at register.votesPA.com. See https://www.aclupa.org/news/2015/08/27/voting-rights-advocates-praise-wolf- administrations-move-off 3 Representation in the Government Pennsylvania’s Current Law Felony disenfranchisement restrictions Restrictions while in prison only Ballot initiative