The Pennsylvania Senate on Friday, approved comprehensive measures to improve the Commonwealth’s elections when it sent to the governor the Voting Rights Protection Act. According to a recent poll by Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, 74% of those polled support requirements that voters show an identification card when voting in person and 81% are in favor of signature verification. Both of the measures, as well as an assortment of others, such as early voting, allowing voters to correct non-fatal errors on mail-in ballots, yearly election audits and more much, are included in the bill. Should the bill not become law, the Senate has moved Sen. Judy Ward’s Senate Bill 735 to require voter identification via a constitutional amendment. That would mean taking election reform directly to the people and bypassing the executive branch. Considering the strong support of voter identification, backers say it is highly likely it would be approved by voters. Meanwhile, Governor Wolf has not indicated whether he will sign it or not… with some early indications pointing to him not signing off on it. One option would be for him not to sign it but allow it to become law without his signature.
