State Republicans have again proposed a solution to voter fraud when no such problem exists. HB 891 [1] is the Republicans most recent effort to disenfranchise PA voters, courtesy of State Representatives Thomas Kutz and Torren Eckers.
HB 891 would require voters to provide “unexpired government-issued identification” every time they voted. The Bill does not make provisions for other valid forms of identification that are currently available to PA voters. Nor does it address non-photo ID vs photo ID.
For example, if you are a senior who has voted in the same polling place for 30 years and your government-issued ID is an expired driver’s license, then you will be turned away. No provisional ballot. No vote. Nothing.
HB 891 would also amend the PA State Constitution to disenfranchise state voters. Elizabeth Rementer, Press Secretary for House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, said “Our state constitution grants rights. It doesn’t and shouldn’t take them away.”[2]
State Republicans are weaponizing the state constitution to accomplish what they are unable to achieve through legitimate political processes. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last.
But if HB 891 is the solution, then what is the election integrity problem that it is attempting to fix?
Republicans baselessly claim that more restrictive voter ID laws and changes to the state constitution are necessary to “enhance election security.”
The incidence of voter fraud in PA elections is less than 0.00002%. Over the past four decades more than 200 million ballots were cast in PA [3] while there have been only thirty-five documented cases of voter fraud. [4] None of the documented instances would have resulted in a different election result.
In addition, sixteen lawsuits related to the 2020 election were filed against our state.[5] None of the cases provided evidence of fraud by voters, poll workers, or election officials and were dismissed.
There is no election integrity issues in PA except for those that State Republicans make up. HB 891 is a shameless attempt to subvert the will of PA voters and their access to the ballot box.
Tell your state representative NO to HB 891.
[1]https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2023&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0891&mobile_choice=suppress
[2]https://www.abc27.com/pennsylvania-politics/pennsylvania-gop-leaders-say-voter-photo-id-would-fight-fraud-democrats-say-it-would-suppress-votes/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20constitution%20grants%20rights.,%2Dstarter%20for%20House%20Democrats.%E2%80%9D
[3]Assumes 65% turn out for presidential elections, 50% for midterms, and 35% for primaries and off year elections.
[5] See for example Trump v Boockvar https://web.archive.org/web/20201116052301/https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/Roberts-Filed-Complaint.pdf