Congressman Meuser Seeks to Restore Confidence in PA Elections
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Recently, Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Al Schmidt, seeking answers to questions that will help restore confidence in Pennsylvania’s elections.
The purpose of the letter is to provide clarity on election-related issues to voters, election officials, campaigns, and others ahead of the 2024 election. Pennsylvania election laws delegate significant authority to county governments and boards of elections, but there remain concerns about statewide election integrity issues.
Our common goal is to ensure that elections are administered in accordance with the law and with a level of uniformity to make certain voters have confidence in our elections and that proper procedures have been followed across Pennsylvania. Among several topics addressed in the letter, Congressman Meuser seeks clarity on behalf of constituents on issues related to non-citizens voting, voting machine testing, mail-in ballots, drop box security, poll watching, ballot curing, and ballot harvesting.
Congressman Meuser said, “According to a recent report by The Associated Press, election integrity is of bipartisan concern to the American people. A survey found that only 44% of adults are confident that votes in the 2024 elections will be counted accurately. This presents an important opportunity for the Secretary of the Commonwealth to help rebuild trust and restore confidence in Pennsylvania’s elections. There is no higher priority than ensuring that the 2024 election will be conducted fairly, according to the law, and that results will be accurately reported. I urge Secretary Schmidt to promptly address the concerns in my letter as we seek to restore voter confidence in our elections. Voting is at the heart of our constitutional-republic, and my constituents deserve to know steps are being taken to protect their votes and the integrity of the upcoming election.”
The full letter can be found here.
A portion of the questions posed in the letter can be found below:
- How can my constituents and all voters in PA be confident that non-citizens will not be added to the voter rolls with automatic voter registration?
- Do you intend to verify that counties are doing proper pre- and post-election Logic and Accuracy testing?
- In cases of determining whether to qualify or disqualify a ballot due to inaccuracies or omissions, what is the curing procedure, and will voters be contacted and informed?
- Regarding drop boxes, can you clarify the authority of the County’s board of elections and does your office recommend securing drop boxes and monitoring them with surveillance?
- Can you clarify what is permitted and what is illegal regarding ballot collection in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
- Describe the penalties for violating Pennsylvania's laws against illegal ballot collection.
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