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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 11, 2021 12:47 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Judy Ward and Sen. Doug Mastriano |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Constitutional Amendment: Providing for Voter Identification |
| We plan to introduce legislation amending the Pennsylvania Constitution to require voters to provide valid identification in order to vote in an election. The forms of ID would be the same as the options that are currently available to first-time voters in PA. The measure, if approved in two consecutive legislative sessions, would place a proposed amendment on the election ballot in 2023 asking voters if identification should be required at each election. This proposal would help to enhance election integrity and increase voter confidence. It would also add another layer of security to our elections. In 2011, voters in Mississippi passed a ballot amending their constitution to require a person to submit government-issued photo identification in order to vote. Missouri also approved a ballot question in 2016 amending its constitution to require a form of identification, which may include a valid government-issued photo ID, to vote. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, in November 2018 voters in two states, Arkansas and North Carolina, approved ballot measures to amend the state constitution to require photo voter identification. In light of challenges to photo ID laws in other states and a Commonwealth Court ruling that nullified Pennsylvania’s 2012 voter ID law, I am proposing a bill that would amend the state constitution to require that voters provide valid identification to vote in PA. Please join us in cosponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as SB735