Dems also introduced a bill to allow voter registration the same day as the election.

Democrats in the statehouse recently passed legislation authorizing local election officials to start the processing of mail-in ballots before the day of the election. The bill, backed by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, passed on a party line vote with all Democrats supporting while all Republicans opposed it.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Democrat Rep. Scott Conklin, passing the bill “ensure[s] that Pennsylvania does not become a national embarrassment on Election Day.” Conklin said if his bill becomes law, officials can inspect and count ballots before an election day but cannot publish the results until polls close.

Proponents of the bill say it prevents election officials and observers from disclosing the results of the pre-election day count but Republicans who voted against the bill noted there is no punishment for doing so.

The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled state Senate, where the GOP majority leader Sen. Joe Pittman draws a hard line on election-related legislation: “Any discussion of changes to the administration of elections in our commonwealth must also include a Constitutional voter identification requirement.”

A larger elections reform bill that included both the early-counting provision and a voter ID requirement passed both chambers in 2021. It was vetoed by the Democrat governor over the voter ID provision. Republican House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler also said this bill fails to address other issues, such as counties running out of paper ballots and incorrectly calibrated touch screen voting machines.

While Republicans in the House raised concerns that counting early allows political operatives to generate enough fraudulent votes through this pre-election day process to sway the election, Democrats and their allies in the media continue to call any allegations of fraudulent election and voting activities “baseless.”

In addition to allowing mail-in ballots to be counted before election day, Democrats in the House are pushing legislation that allows for voter registration on election day and the ability to vote the same day. These efforts are contrasted by actions in the GOP Senate, which wants to restrict ballot drop-off locations and drop boxes, citing the lack of security.

The bill allowing early vote counting is not expected to be taken up in the Senate.