May. 13, 2025
HARRISBURG — The House today approved extensive, costly changes to the Commonwealth’s Election Code that would do nothing to improve voters’ confidence in elections, said Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford/Erie), chair of the House State Government Committee.
“This 98-page bill was rushed to prime time with only about a week elapsing from introduction to final passage by the House,” Roae said. “It gave little time for stakeholders to weigh in and have their concerns addressed.
“I am very concerned with the permanent mail-in ballot list provision in the bill,” Roae added. “When people move out of Pennsylvania, their last known Pennsylvania address would indefinitely continue to get ballots every election, and the new occupants of the residences could fraudulently complete and mail back those ballots.”
In addition, Roae added, “Ballot harvesting is also in the bill since caregivers, such as those at residential facilities, could ‘help’ residents in their care fill out ballots, and the caregiver could legally take the ballots to a drop box.”
House Bill 1396 would require counties to do many costly things that could lead to tax increases such as:
• Mandate staffing for in-person early voting sites eight hours a day beginning 11 days before the election.
• Mandate drop boxes with 24-hour surveillance and daily ballot removal.
• Mandated county-paid postage for mail-in ballot return envelopes.
• Mandated electronic pollbooks rather than the paper books used now.
• Mandated statewide uniform election worker pay rates rather than allowing a local decision.
• Mandated pre-registering 16-year-olds.
• Mandate counties tell voters within 24 hours of the discovery of defective mail-in ballots, but must give voters up until six days after the election to correct them.
The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
The 6th Legislative District includes the city of Meadville; Beaver, Conneaut, East Fairfield, East Fallowfield, East Mead, Fairfield, Greenwood, Hayfield, North Shenango, Pine, Randolph, Sadsbury, South Shenango, Spring, Summerhill, Summit, Union, Vernon, Wayne, West Fallowfield, West Mead and West Shenango townships; and Cochranton, Conneaut Lake, Conneautville, Linesville and Springboro boroughs in Crawford County and Conneaut, Elk Creek and Springfield townships and Albion and Cranesville boroughs in Erie County.
Representative Brad Roae
6th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tracy Polovick
717.260.6358
tpolovick@pahousegop.com
RepRoae.com /
Facebook.com/RepRoae