Letter On Democracy Defense
Senate President Pro Tempore and Speaker of The House:
We call on you to end the attacks on Pennsylvania’s democratic process and to stop using our elections, which have been fair and free, as a political punching bag. This is a distraction from the real issues and urgent crises facing our commonwealth. Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen before.
In 2012, legislators attempted to install what would have been one of the country’s most aggressive Voter ID laws. The courts blocked the law as unconstitutional ahead of the 2012 election, with a judge ruling that the law was a "substantial threat" to the rights of hundreds of thousands of voters.
However, in 2019, a bipartisan majority of legislators, including GOP leadership, joined together in voting for Act 77, a series of reforms to Pennsylvania election law. Many of us were enthusiastic supporters of the improvements in the bill around accessibility and convenience for voters.
Now, despite overwhelming support from members of the General Assembly for the legislation in 2019, these improvements to our electoral system have become the top targets of those same members since the 2020 election. Those members have spent countless hours baselessly criticizing their own reforms while promoting conspiracies about the 2020 election -- the same election where 75% of these members won re-election.
Now, the President Pro Tempore -- using a taxpayer-funded committee and unknown third-party vendor as his vehicle -- has taken charge of a Senate election review to demand expansive and invasive subpoenas demanding the personal information of millions of Pennsylvania voters. These subpoenas are a violation of Pennsylvanians’ privacy and an abuse of power. The overly broad subpoenas seek driver’s license numbers and partial social security numbers, among other information about individual voters and must be stopped.
All of this occurred even though the 2020 election was the most secure in history, according to the Trump administration’s own Department of Homeland Security. Both Democratic and Republican judges have repeatedly confirmed that the election was free, fair, and legitimate. And on top of it all, the election was already audited, not once, but twice.
These subpoenas are just the latest in a litany of attacks on our election systems.
Recently, an expansive constitutional amendment was passed through the House State Government Committee that would again attempt to expand PA’s existing voter ID requirements, make the position of Secretary of State in Pennsylvania a partisan elected position, and bring politicized audits to every election, despite the non-partisan, trusted audit processes already in place.
Let us be clear: the PA constitution protects our rights, including our freedom to vote, and using it to push partisan policy agendas is wrong.
Pennsylvania needs real leadership to get us through the pandemic. While COVID-19 is raging throughout the commonwealth, you continue to sit on over $7 billion in federal aid that could be going to help small businesses, schools, or direct service providers in difficult times. Instead of doing your job and helping families in need, you are doubling down on lies and disinformation, wasting time, money, and attention making it harder for Pennsylvanians to vote.
Running elections is difficult. But, contrary to the narrative that has been pushed for months, Pennsylvania’s election system is not broken. There are common-sense steps we can take to safeguard our elections and Americans’ right to vote, but you are not pursuing these kinds of reforms. The freedom to choose our leaders, to speak up for what we believe in, is foundational to American democracy. Restricting someone’s vote is taking away their freedom, and your efforts to take away that freedom from your fellow Pennsylvanians will not go unanswered. We will not sit idly by while you erode our democracy.
It’s time for all of Pennsylvania’s elected officials to focus on doing their jobs and helping Pennsylvania families recover from the greatest economic disaster of our generation. You must recognize that, under incredibly difficult circumstances, local election officials from both parties oversaw a safe, secure election under the current laws, and you must start focusing on the work we elected you to do. Your constituents will be paying close attention.
Signed by,
The New Pennsylvania Project
For Our Future Pennsylvania Action Fund
BetterPA
We The People - PA
PA Budget and Policy Center
Action Together NEPA
Mothers of Incarcerated Sons
All Voting is Local PA
PA Spotlight
Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA)
The PA Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC-PA)
PA Indivisible
Common Defense - PA
Conservation Voters of PA
Amistad Law Project
Free The Ballot
Keystone Progress Education Fund
Keystone Progess
Our Revolution Pennsylvania
Centre County Wage Justice Coalition
The HUB for Progress
Environeers
VEEEM Pittsburgh
West End P.O.W.E.R.
1Hood Media
1 Vote Counts
Pennsylvania Working Families Party
Chester County Marching Forward
Americans for Democratic Action, Southeastern PA
We call on you to end the attacks on Pennsylvania’s democratic process and to stop using our elections, which have been fair and free, as a political punching bag. This is a distraction from the real issues and urgent crises facing our commonwealth. Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen before.
In 2012, legislators attempted to install what would have been one of the country’s most aggressive Voter ID laws. The courts blocked the law as unconstitutional ahead of the 2012 election, with a judge ruling that the law was a "substantial threat" to the rights of hundreds of thousands of voters.
However, in 2019, a bipartisan majority of legislators, including GOP leadership, joined together in voting for Act 77, a series of reforms to Pennsylvania election law. Many of us were enthusiastic supporters of the improvements in the bill around accessibility and convenience for voters.
Now, despite overwhelming support from members of the General Assembly for the legislation in 2019, these improvements to our electoral system have become the top targets of those same members since the 2020 election. Those members have spent countless hours baselessly criticizing their own reforms while promoting conspiracies about the 2020 election -- the same election where 75% of these members won re-election.
Now, the President Pro Tempore -- using a taxpayer-funded committee and unknown third-party vendor as his vehicle -- has taken charge of a Senate election review to demand expansive and invasive subpoenas demanding the personal information of millions of Pennsylvania voters. These subpoenas are a violation of Pennsylvanians’ privacy and an abuse of power. The overly broad subpoenas seek driver’s license numbers and partial social security numbers, among other information about individual voters and must be stopped.
All of this occurred even though the 2020 election was the most secure in history, according to the Trump administration’s own Department of Homeland Security. Both Democratic and Republican judges have repeatedly confirmed that the election was free, fair, and legitimate. And on top of it all, the election was already audited, not once, but twice.
These subpoenas are just the latest in a litany of attacks on our election systems.
Recently, an expansive constitutional amendment was passed through the House State Government Committee that would again attempt to expand PA’s existing voter ID requirements, make the position of Secretary of State in Pennsylvania a partisan elected position, and bring politicized audits to every election, despite the non-partisan, trusted audit processes already in place.
Let us be clear: the PA constitution protects our rights, including our freedom to vote, and using it to push partisan policy agendas is wrong.
Pennsylvania needs real leadership to get us through the pandemic. While COVID-19 is raging throughout the commonwealth, you continue to sit on over $7 billion in federal aid that could be going to help small businesses, schools, or direct service providers in difficult times. Instead of doing your job and helping families in need, you are doubling down on lies and disinformation, wasting time, money, and attention making it harder for Pennsylvanians to vote.
Running elections is difficult. But, contrary to the narrative that has been pushed for months, Pennsylvania’s election system is not broken. There are common-sense steps we can take to safeguard our elections and Americans’ right to vote, but you are not pursuing these kinds of reforms. The freedom to choose our leaders, to speak up for what we believe in, is foundational to American democracy. Restricting someone’s vote is taking away their freedom, and your efforts to take away that freedom from your fellow Pennsylvanians will not go unanswered. We will not sit idly by while you erode our democracy.
It’s time for all of Pennsylvania’s elected officials to focus on doing their jobs and helping Pennsylvania families recover from the greatest economic disaster of our generation. You must recognize that, under incredibly difficult circumstances, local election officials from both parties oversaw a safe, secure election under the current laws, and you must start focusing on the work we elected you to do. Your constituents will be paying close attention.
Signed by,
The New Pennsylvania Project
For Our Future Pennsylvania Action Fund
BetterPA
We The People - PA
PA Budget and Policy Center
Action Together NEPA
Mothers of Incarcerated Sons
All Voting is Local PA
PA Spotlight
Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA)
The PA Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC-PA)
PA Indivisible
Common Defense - PA
Conservation Voters of PA
Amistad Law Project
Free The Ballot
Keystone Progress Education Fund
Keystone Progess
Our Revolution Pennsylvania
Centre County Wage Justice Coalition
The HUB for Progress
Environeers
VEEEM Pittsburgh
West End P.O.W.E.R.
1Hood Media
1 Vote Counts
Pennsylvania Working Families Party
Chester County Marching Forward
Americans for Democratic Action, Southeastern PA