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Republicans in Pennsylvania are working hard to push a series of election protection measures through the legislature ahead of this year’s heated midterm elections.
According to a report from Just the News, three major House bills are slated to be voted on, including:
- HB 143: Would require Health Department and State Department to remove dead people from voter rolls,
- HB 34: Would require ballots that are transported to have guidelines for that transportation to increase security,
- HB 2484: Would establish a mandate for write-in candidates in elections to file a “statement of financial interest.”
Per a memorandum from State Rep. Gary Day (R), HB 34 “would establish guidelines for Cargo Securement in the transportation of ballots to ensure that ballots are not misplace, tampered with, over/under counted, and or delayed in shipping. It will require ballots to be transported in transportation containers that are sealed with numbered plastic tags and have a Bill of Lading included with the shipment.”
The Pennsylvania GOP’s attempt to tighten security on state election processes comes just in time for the midterm elections in November. GOP gubernatorial nominee and Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) has made election integrity a central issue of his campaign.
“As Governor of Pennsylvania, I’ll nominate a pro-constitution Secretary of State who upholds election laws and protects the sanctity of your vote,” Mastriano stated in June.
Further, Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate nominee, Dr. Mehmet Oz, has drawn attention to the issue of election integrity following a tight primary race between him and his now-defeated opponent, David McCormick. In May, Politico reported that Oz was leading his Republican challenger by only 0.7 percent of the vote, which triggered an automatic recount.
However, Oz drew attention to approximately 860 absentee and mail-in ballots that were not properly dated, leading some to doubt the legitimacy and security of the ballots being transported.
According to Just the News, all three proposed election security bills in the Pennsylvania legislature will have to jump through three more considerations before a final vote.