Lycoming News

With Election Day approaching, Pennsylvania state representatives Frank Ryan and Dawn Keefer expressed concerns regarding the handling of absentee and mail-in ballots. Accompanied by over a dozen colleagues, the legislators sent a letter to acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman, urging her to direct county election officials to properly manage these ballots.

Both Ryan and Keefer are part of the House State Government Committee, which focuses on election procedures and system reforms. Concerns arose from Chapman's directive, which seemed to contrast with previous testimony by Deputy Secretary of State Jonathan Marks regarding the policy for verifying absentee and mail-in ballot applicants' identities.

In September, Marks testified before the committee, stating that the responsibility to verify voter ID rests with counties, though it is supported by systems such as PennDOT and the Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) program. However, Marks highlighted that ballots are sent to applicants regardless of successful verification. This testimony appeared inconsistent with a subsequent directive from Chapman that insisted voter identification be confirmed before sending ballots.

According to Department of State data from October 21, 2022, approximately 240,000 ballots were classified as "not verified" before the upcoming November 8 election. Often, these discrepancies result from clerical errors, requiring election officials to withhold the ballots until verification is complete.

Representative Keefer stressed, "It is extremely alarming that ballots have been sent to and returned by unverified voters." She emphasized the need for compliance with state and federal election laws to uphold election integrity.

Ryan emphasized the importance of internal controls, stating, "The need for internal process controls such as SOC-1 and SOC-2 audits are imperative for us to ensure that our voting systems are sound."

The detailed letter demands action by the Department of State to secure the election integrity by instructing counties to set aside and delay processing ballots if identification mismatches occur. It calls for Chapman to clarify her department’s directives on ID verification responsibilities and requests a comprehensive list of all potentially problematic ballot applications. Additionally, the representatives ask for a new requirement that counties certify unverified ballots by the type of identification provided once verification occurs, in light of the conflicting guidance previously issued.