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The movement to change Pennsylvania’s voting laws is all but dead.
Despite bipartisan support for changes in Harrisburg, no major election law has passed since the state passed it postal voting without excuses in 2020. Since then, the issue has become deeply partisan. Bills routinely make it to the GOP-controlled state Senate or Democratic-controlled House and then languish in the other chamber. AND The council was to advise the legislature regarding cross-party solutions remains inactive.
But will that change if Democrats win a trifecta of state government this fall – control of the state Senate, House of Representatives and governor? What policies would they prioritize?
Republicans controlled all three for a long time, most recently from 2011 to 2014. During that period, they passed primary voter identification requirement that was ultimately the case invalidated in court. Meanwhile, Democrats in Pennsylvania haven’t held both houses or the governorship since 1993. Even then, the trifecta lasted just one year.
But there is a path, albeit a hard one, to Democrats regaining unified control in November’s midterm elections.
Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro runs the state Treasurer Stacy Garrityhis Republican competitor, by over 20 points some recent polls.
Democrats would also need to maintain a slim majority in the House and flip the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 27-23 majority. That would require stopping them the place they replaced last year in Lancaster County and acquire fresh ones in potentially vulnerable neighborhoods in the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia suburbs.
Democrats have reason to believe these seats are within reach. Conventional political wisdom he keeps it up when a sitting president does it low approval ratingsthe opposing political party usually has a good year in the midterms.
If Democrats can do this, it will be easier for them to pass voting law changes that have eluded them in recent years.
They may also face political pressure from their base to go further and continue the mid-decade partisan redrawing of borders that other single-party-controlled states such as Texas and California have recently undertaken.
Pennsylvania Democrats laid out their electoral priorities this legislative session
During this legislative session, Democrats have made clear what their electoral priorities are.
Last May, the State House adopted an omnibus electoral bill sponsored by Democrats Speaker Joanna McClinton (Delaware/Philadelphia), which would significantly change the elections in Pennsylvania.
The bill would introduce true in-person early voting instead of the current, time-consuming process of ordering and dropping off an absentee ballot at your local elections office; ordered the creation of at least two mailboxes in each district; and required counties to adopt electronic surveys until 2027.
It would also give counties more time to prepare absentee ballots for counting before Election Day. Supporters say this preparation, called pre- canvassing, leads to faster election results. The state House also recently passed the pre-canvassing resolution as a separate bill.
Earlier this month at rally for voting rights at the state capitolMcClinton again called on the state Senate to consider her omnibus bill.
“We will have everything necessary so that we can continue to have a voice in this democracy,” she said of what the situation would look like if her bill were passed.
State Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Senate Minority Leader, responded to McClinton’s call on Xsaying Senate Democrats are ready to take up the bill. But the bill failed to come up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate because GOP leaders insisted that any election law include expanded voter ID requirements.
Asked how the election policy discussion will change in the Democratic-led Senate, Costa emphasized many of the issues included in McClinton’s bill, as well as other Democratic priorities: pre- canvassing, drop boxes, electronic polling, pre-registration of voters who turn 18 on Election Day, early voting and same-day voter registration.
He also mentioned opening Pennsylvania’s primary elections to independent and third-party voters. This is a proposal that has gained many supporters double-sided grip in recent years.
“We want to make it easier for people to vote, but at the same time have a fair system,” Costa said.
Costa added that if Democrats pass these proposals next session, they will also try to provide districts with funding to implement them.
McClinton’s bill also included funding to support counties implement the changes. This would authorize up to $60 million in bonds for fresh equipment, provide $2 million for electronic survey log review and approval, and allocate approximately $100,000 per year plus benefits to pay the fresh employee.
Would electoral changes be a priority for Democrats?
If Democrats won the trifecta, they would certainly have many things on their wish list other than electoral politics. But Kyler Millera former Democratic Senate staffer who now works as a policy advocate for the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy believes the election legislation would be fairly close to the top – perhaps even in the top three.
– Miller said President Donald Trump the voting attacks raised the issue for Democrats, pointing to the Justice Department’s position trying to get election materials and voter rolls, as well as threats of rejection unfavorable election results.
“This playbook used against American elections is by far the most important issue for Democrats and their electorate,” he said. “People have been fighting for years for the right to vote, which has been slowly restricted over time by the administration and the Supreme Court.”
Miller agreed that the trio of Democrats would likely focus on passing priorities already identified, such as pre-canvassing and codifying some court decisions.
State courts in recent years required counties to apply a mail-in voter notification system if election officials determine that their ballots will be rejected due to a correctable error. They also affirmed voters’ right to count provisional ballots if their absentee ballot is rejected. Voting rights advocates praised both decisions, but advocates and lawmakers alike expressed frustration that the Legislature had not clarified the ambiguities itself.
Miller also said the state should provide more funding for security and training for election officials, given the exodus of experienced local officials in recent years.
Could Democrats try to redraw Pennsylvania’s congressional map?
With full control of state government, Democrats would also have the ability to redraw Pennsylvania’s congressional map to provide their party with greater advantages.
Current map selected by the state Supreme Court in 2022, after partisan gridlock in the Legislature, elected 10 Republican and 7 Democrat representatives to Congress in 2024. However, you can draw a map containing as many as 12 or 13 safe and sound Democratic seats.
Over the past year, several other states, including Texas AND Californiathey redrew their congressional lines within an unprecedented mid-decade wave of gerrymandering.
Last year, Shapiro said he did not seek mid-decade redistricting and called Texas’ redrawing “disgraceful.”
A Shapiro campaign spokesman did not respond to questions about whether Shapiro would continue partisan redistricting if Democrats win the trifecta, or what specific election law priorities he would pursue. But the press secretary Repozy itself said in a statement that the Republican grip on power is an obstacle to broader changes in electoral law.
“For more than 30 years, majority Republican senators have stood in the way of more progress we could make in the commonwealth,” Reposa said, citing specifically “the passage of key reforms to protect our democracy.”
Erika Clayton-Wrightstate spokesman Senate President pro tempore Kim Ward (D-Westmoreland) responded in an email that Senate Republicans are the “last line of defense” protecting taxpayers on a variety of issues, including “election security.”
“Pennsylvanians know [Democratic] policies are detrimental to positioning our Commonwealth for growth, which will prevent the trifecta in Pennsylvania,” she said.
Even if the three Democrats redrew Pennsylvania’s congressional map, they would likely face legal action. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled in 2018 that partisan gerrymandering violated the state constitution by throwing out the GOP-drawn congressional map.
Carter Walker is a Votebeat reporter with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at [email protected]
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