Rep. Rich Irvin yesterday, issued a statement after the governor vetoed the Pennsylvania Voting Rights Protection Act… saying the bill was crafted with input from election experts gathered during 10 public hearings by the bipartisan House State Government Committee. It has become clear that our election processes are outdated and not as secure as they need to be to elicit trust in the system. Irvin said House Bill 1300 would have solved those problems. The Voting Rights Protection Act would have enhanced voter ID requirements, and provided a free ID to ensure everyone could meet the requirement; ensured uniformity in the conduct of elections across counties; provided for early voting and correcting some defects on mail-in ballots; and offered counties more time to process registration applications and count ballots. He said that the governor had ample opportunity to work with committee members on the bill but made the choice not to be part of the process. Instead, he chose to sit back and wait until both the House and Senate passed the bill to wield his pen to strike it down. Irvin said the vetos proves that Governor Wolf is simply not taking into account, the overwhelming number of Pennsylvanian’s who have said they want these reforms. The governor yesterday also vetoed funding in the budget for a Bureau of Election Audits within the Department of the Auditor General.
