Voting Rights

Our elections are overwhelmingly free and fair in this country. Mark knows that no recent presidential elections have been "stolen."

HIs intention is to increase participation in our electoral processes, especially since parts of our state don't get 50% turnout. Voting by mail is more convenient, safe, and informed for many voters, and we see millions doing it every year. Mail ballots have been used successfully across the country for decades. Counting mail ballots is automated, reliable, and secure. Unfortunately, unique to PA, every year we lose thousands of votes to technicalities, like not including a (by all accounts completely gratuitous) second envelope. There is no reason not to count these ballots; other states don’t discount or endlessly argue over such “naked ballots.” 

In PA, we are already in danger of having our votes discounted on technicalities in the name of “election security.” That is why Mark does not support additional identification requirements for voters. We already show photo ID our first time voting at new polling places, and additional requirements are only proposed by our opponents to catch folks who might have expired licenses or no drivers licenses. They know these folks are most likely to be older Pennsylvanians and folks living in cities with public transportation. They’re not attempting to prevent fraud; they’re attempting to prevent democracy. Mark wants to win elections by supporting legislation that benefits older Pennsylvanians, not by discounting your votes.