A proposed change to voting rules in Pennsylvania could have a profound impact on the course of the next presidential election and prevent much of the chaos that followed the 2020 vote.
A committee in the state House voted to pass a bill that would allow election administrators to prepare mail-in ballots for counting ahead of election day, Vote Beat reported. The process, which is known as “pre-canvassing,” involves opening envelopes, flattening the ballots and readying them for counting.
Although it may seem like a small change, it could significantly reduce the time it takes to tally votes and limit the spread of misinformation in the interim.
The rules over mail-in ballots have been a point of contention between Democrats and Republicans for years, but the issue exploded during the 2020 election when the Covid-19 pandemic led to a surge in people voting by mail — the vast majority of them Democrats.
Prior to the 2020 election, democracy advocacy groups warned that early counting would show Republicans with a false lead due to in-person votes being counted faster than mail-in ballots. Many feared the Trump campaign would use the so-called “red mirage” to block the remaining ballots from being counted, using a baseless accusation of fraud to justify it.
That is precisely what happened. After taking an early lead in Pennsylvania, the gap was reduced over the coming days as the state painstakingly tallied the mail-in ballots. During that time, Donald Trump called on administrators to “STOP THE COUNT,” and sent a team of lawyers to the state to allege voter fraud.
Mr Trump’s presidency eventually came to an ignominious end during a press conference held by those lawyers at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, at which Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, made baseless claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
The proposed changes still have a long way to go, however. They must pass a House vote, which is narrowly controlled by Democrats, and then the Republican-controlled Senate.
In a statement to Vote Beat, senate Republicans said their priority would be for a voter ID law — a bill that requires voters to present identification when they cast a ballot.
“Voters deserve to have confidence in our electoral process,” said GOP spokesperson Kate Flessner. “A holistic approach to addressing concerns is most appropriate, with voter identification being a key component.”
