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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 2, 2020 11:22 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Malcolm Kenyatta |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Early Voting and Ballot Pre-Canvassing |
| For most of our state’s history, voting has been conducted in person for only two days out of the year. This severely curtailed the ability of many eligible voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Mail-in voting enhanced the ability of everyday Pennsylvanians to vote, but time constraints still exist for electors. Moreover, a historic number of Pennsylvanians voted by mail in the 2020 general election, which led to a historic number of ballots that needed to be counted by dedicated county election workers. Yet, mail-in ballots could not be pre-canvassed until 7:00am on election day, greatly slowing down the determination of election results. The state, and indeed the nation, should no longer be kept in suspense, waiting for election results days after the polls have closed in Pennsylvania. For this reason, I plan to introduce legislation to establish early voting in the state of Pennsylvania and to allow for two weeks of ballot pre-canvassing. It is time we follow the lead of other states in allowing electors to vote early. It is time that we work to ensure all eligible voters can exercise their right to vote. It is time we lessen the burden on county election workers and allow them to pre-canvass ballots well ahead of election day. This is a commonsense proposal that will benefit all eligible voters in our great state. We should always strive to make voting more accessible and to announce election results as efficiently as possible. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation and send a unifying message to all residents: your voice matters. |
Introduced as HB366