Pennsylvania lawmakers sound alarm on double voting as they urge Gov. Shapiro to take motion

(The Middle Sq.) – Casting ballots in two totally different states carries a felony conviction, however lawmakers in Pennsylvania say few voters know concerning the penalties.

And whereas the crime is “uncommon,” in response to the Division of State, it nonetheless occurs.

Rep. Jamie Flick, R-Williamsport, stated Tuesday he’s compiled knowledge that confirms “varied situations” of voters casting ballots in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“This report entails thousands and thousands of voting information, and analyzing this knowledge takes time to make sure accuracy,” stated Flick, who describes himself as a software program engineer and knowledge analyst by commerce.

“From the place we stand at present, we will affirm that double voting occurred in earlier nationwide elections, however we’re dedicated to totally finalizing this report.”

The Middle Sq.’s try and contact Flick’s workplace for a duplicate of the findings was unsuccesful, although the legislator himself stated the info is publicly obtainable, albeit onerous to parse.

“The findings underscore the necessity for voter identification on a nationwide degree, and we should always start by strengthening these measures proper right here at dwelling,” Flick stated.

Republican Chief Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Quarryville, joined Flick and different Home colleagues to advertise a memorandum of understanding between the Shapiro administration to share voter registration and participation knowledge with the general public extra clearly as a part of an consciousness marketing campaign.

“Given current information, it’s clear Pennsylvanians must be higher knowledgeable about double voting, its authorized penalties, and what to do to make sure they’re casting just one poll in every election,” he stated.

Matt Heckel, spokesman for the Division of State, instructed The Middle Sq. on Thursday that Pennsylvania’s 67 counties preserve voter rolls and achieve this nicely.

“Double voting is against the law and is extraordinarily uncommon,” he stated.

“The Division takes any situations of this uncommon prevalence very critically and assists in referring to the suitable investigatory companies.”

And whereas Heckel didn’t remark particularly on the notice marketing campaign, he stated Pennsylvania works with different states enrolled within the Digital Registration Info Middle, or ERIC, to check voter rolls to stop duplicate poll casting.

“The Division believes strongly within the worth of the info we obtain by means of ERIC as a result of the strategy of securely sharing info entails the flexibility to establish potential duplicates with extra reliability than info primarily based solely on public information,” he stated.

Ohio withdrew from the database in 2023 amid issues from Republican legislators that the nonprofit group had develop into politicized as a voter registration software, quite than fraud prevention.

Different states – together with Florida, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Virginia – have additionally walked away from the database lately.

ERIC compares private knowledge collected by the Social Safety Administration and U.S. Postal Service to trace the place residents are registered and eligible to vote.

As of 2024, 24 states and the District of Columbia work with the group, utilizing the info to take away deceased voters from the rolls and ship registration info to eligible voters.

Member states pay a one-time price of $25,000 to hitch the group and owe annual dues commensurate with the scale of their voting-age inhabitants, starting from $37,000 to $174,000.

Republican legislators in Pennsylvania, too, forged doubts concerning the state’s efforts to stop double voting, noting that solely half of eligible voters in America are tracked by ERIC.

Flick stated compiling Pennsylvania’s knowledge can be advanced and tedious: every county supplies voter info in a distinct format.

Throughout an evaluation of 13 counties, Flick stated he needed to string collectively full names and birthdays to establish errors within the rolls.

Ohio’s 88 counties all submit knowledge in the identical format, Flick added.

He famous {that a} nationwide database with uniform formatting would make fraud detection less complicated and enhance voter confidence.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, described the problem as avoidable as a result of there’s a bipartisan urge for food to repair it.

He urged Gov. Josh Shapiro to make use of govt motion to tighten the system additional.

“Guaranteeing our voter rolls are legitimate and informing voters concerning the penalties for double voting should not partisan requests and ought to be addressed by the governor instantly,” he stated.

Shapiro enacted computerized voter registration in September, a transfer that irked Republican lawmakers as improper.

Latest authorized motion from the state Supreme Court docket stated computerized registration past a driver’s license replace is questionable.