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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 7, 2022 01:14 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Regina G. Young |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Allow Earlier Pre-Canvassing |
| No-excuse mail-in voting enabled all Pennsylvanians to vote securely from the convenience of their own home. However, the influx of mail-in ballots since their introduction has greatly increased the number of ballots that need to be counted by our dedicated county election workers. Current law does not allow ballots to be pre-canvassed until 7:00 a.m. on election day, thus slowing down the ultimate determination of election results. Residents and the individuals running for public office deserve to know election results in a timely manner. Moreover, our county boards of elections have consistently asked that the law be changed to allow earlier pre-canvassing. For these reasons, I intend to introduce legislation permitting the pre-canvassing of absentee and mail-in ballots up to 21 days before election day. The popularity of no-excuse voting by mail far surpassed expectations. Given the dramatic increase in the number of ballots, the existing pre-canvassing timeline no longer works and must be extended. It is time we stop ignoring the call of election workers across the state and, instead, give them the flexibility needed to ensure that our elections are run as efficiently as possible, and that results are announced in a timely fashion. Please join me in co-sponsoring this commonsense proposal that will benefit everyone across the state. |
Introduced as HB488