UPDATE Mail-in voting still in place in Pa. but opposition continues

Aug. 4—HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania law allowing universal mail-in voting scored a victory Tuesday before the state's highest court, but opposition persists toward an end goal of overturning the hot-button legislation.

Next week, members of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania will vote on a proposed resolution — one of many establishing the group's legislative agenda — calling on state legislators to repeal Act 77 and require changes like no-excuse mail-in voting to be made through a constitutional amendment.

The county officials who oversee local elections also seek to provide input on any proposed changes.

Should Republicans hold the majority in the House and Senate and also win the governor's office in the Nov. 8 general election, the path to a legislative repeal would be cleared.

The GOP's nominee, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, introduced a bill this session calling for a repeal. His isn't the only proposal. Several others were filed in the House and Senate, though none have been brought to vote.

The majority opinion in the state Supreme Court's 5-2 ruling held that the Pennsylvania Constitution doesn't restrict the General Assembly from enacting no-excuse, mail-in voting as it did with Act 77 of 2019. The decision reversed a Commonwealth Court ruling that found Act 77 unconstitutional.

Republican officials who filed the suit plan an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, as reported by SpotlightPA.

There's also the new lawsuit filed by Republicans last month in Commonwealth Court alleging the "non-severability" clause in Act 77 was triggered by a federal appeals court ruling concerning undated return envelopes for mail-in ballots, voiding the entire law.

Mail-in voting opened to all registered voters in 2020, the last presidential election. Prior to that, specific reasons were necessary for the approval of an absentee ballot.

Of 2.88 million ballots cast in that year's primary, 1.45 million were by mail-in or absentee ballot. In the general election, 2.7 million mail-in ballots were cast out of 6.95 million ballots overall.

Former President Donald Trump laid the groundwork for doubts about mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, calling it "fraudulent" and the seed for "rigged" elections. None of this held up under intense scrutiny following Trump's loss to President Joe Biden, though what's been deemed the "Big Lie" carries on to the present day.

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) has representatives from all of the state's 67 counties, according to its current president, Bradford County Commissioner Daryl Miller.

Its current priorities include establishing a pre-canvassing period to allow election staff to prepare mail-in ballots for tabulation ahead of polls opening on Election Day. Election officials across the state have lobbied for pre-canvassing to begin before Election Day, and the state's definition includes counting, computing and tallying the votes but not recording or publishing results early. CCAP also sought an earlier deadline for vote-by-mail ballot requests plus clarifying language concerning drop boxes, ballot signatures and more.

Now, should the proposed resolution be adopted, the priority would be a full repeal.

"It is far better to reset and go back to the way it was prior to Act 77," said Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D'Agostino. "There's no question that in-person voting is the most secure."

D'Agostino and fellow commissioner Josh Parsons submitted the proposed resolution. It has no bearing on state government, of course, but seeks to encourage and embolden legislative action.

The commissioners were embroiled in a lawsuit after a decision was made to pull the county's drop box ahead of the spring primary election. Their county is also one of three involved in a separate lawsuit brought by the Department of State demanding they certify vote tallies and include disputed ballots returned with undated envelopes.

On Wednesday, D'Agostino said eroding faith in election integrity is multi-pronged: Unclear language in Act 77, conflicting guidance and directives from the Department of State, rulings by state judges, non-uniform implementation across counties, resignations of county election officials.

Snyder County Commissioner Joe Kantz, chair of CCAP's Resolutions Committee and vice chair of its Election Reforms Committee, said the absentee voting process worked for years. He said he has no issues with voting by mail but that it must "be done constitutionally."

"We want to be at the table to replace it and do something that works," Kantz said.

"It causes a lot of anxiety for election personnel," Miller, the CCAP president, said of the current law. "We want to make sure that the voting public, the people who are casting their ballots, can have confidence that their ballots are cast and counted, to restore confidence in the system."