HARRISBURG — Sen. Judy Ward (R-30) has introduced legislation to strengthen and modernize Pennsylvania’s voter registration system by providing county election officials with additional tools and reliable sources of information to identify and remove deceased, duplicate and otherwise ineligible registrations.
Senate Bill 1429 would improve coordination among state and local agencies, establish clear timelines for voter-roll maintenance and create safeguards to ensure eligible voters are not improperly removed from the rolls.
“Pennsylvania voters deserve confidence that our voter registration rolls are accurate, up to date and properly maintained,” Ward said. “This legislation gives our county election officials the information and tools they need to do their jobs effectively while also putting important safeguards in place to protect eligible voters from being mistakenly removed.”
The legislation would:
- Improve the process for removing deceased voters from Pennsylvania’s voter registration system. It would expand the authoritative sources election commissions may use to include information from the Social Security Administration, government-issued death certificates and Pennsylvania coroners. Counties also could consider other reliable information indicating an elector’s death, including records from government agencies or vital records offices in other states, qualified private-sector data entities and official U.S. Postal Service notices.
- Establish clear timelines for removing deceased voters. County election commissions would be required to update registration records within 14 days of receiving information indicating a registration should be canceled because of the voter’s death.
- Improve coordination between the Department of Health and county election officials. The Department of Health would be required to notify the appropriate election commission within 30 days of receiving notice of an individual’s death. The department also would establish a process to use Social Security Administration information at least once every 120 days to identify deceased electors and transmit that information to the appropriate election commissions for incorporation into the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system.
- Protect voters who are mistakenly removed from the rolls. An individual whose registration is canceled due to death would receive notice of the removal and have 10 days to provide proof that the cancellation was made in error. If the removal was erroneous, the individual would be permitted to re-register or cast a provisional ballot in the next primary or general election.
- Expand the reliable sources of information used to identify other ineligible registrations. These sources would include information from government agencies, state and federal courts, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, jury selection commissions and qualified private-sector data entities.
- Require annual voter-registration maintenance. County election commissions would be required to conduct a voter-registration maintenance program at least once each year using all reliable and pertinent information. The program would begin no later than 30 days after certification of the primary election and be completed at least 90 days before the general election.
- Strengthen coordination among state agencies. Jury selection commissions would be required to provide monthly information about individuals removed from jury service for failing to meet U.S. citizenship requirements. PennDOT also would transmit information regarding Pennsylvania driver licenses surrendered because an individual obtained a license in another state, allowing that information to be incorporated into the SURE system.
- Increase transparency and accountability. Counties would be required to retain canceled voter registration records for five years, including the reason and date for cancellation. County election boards also would be required to annually certify to the Secretary of the Commonwealth that they completed all required voter-roll maintenance. The certification would include the number of address confirmation requests sent, voters designated inactive and registrations removed from the voter registration system.
- If the Secretary of the Commonwealth determines a person has intentionally or knowingly failed in their maintenance requirements, the Secretary must refer the case to the Attorney General to pursue criminal proceedings as they see appropriate.
The bill awaits consideration by the Senate State Government Committee.