The fate of voting rights in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania rests on this fall’s gubernatorial election. The new Governor will be responsible for appointing a secretary of state who will oversee voting in the 2024 election and shaping voting rights in a state where the former President tried to subvert the will of the voters in 2020.
Republicans running for Governor are vowing to repeal the bipartisan 2019 law that permitted extensive mail voting (which helped 2.6 million Pennsylvanians vote in 2020) and impose other voting restrictions. Claims of voter fraud in the long history of mail voting or in the 2020 election in Pennsylvania are baseless. In fact, there have been fewer than 10 known prosecutions for voter fraud in the state out of almost 7 million votes cast.
Former Congressman Lou Barletta leads the latest poll of Pennsylvania Republicans in the Governor’s race. A Trump ally, Barletta has vowed to repeal Act 77 and “preserve mail-in voting only for those who cannot vote on Election Day,” and require signature matching and identification “for every voter.”
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket. Due to term limits, current Governor Tom Wolf is unable to run in 2022. Shapiro has pledged to veto all bills attempting to restrict mail voting.
Only a pro voting rights Governor can stop voter suppression efforts in Pennsylvania as the Republican party is expected to keep control of both chambers of the legislature and overwhelmingly supports weakening election administration and transferring authority to political partisans.
Fight for Pennsylvania Voters!
If you support voting rights and want to make a positive impact in the critical state of Pennsylvania, donate to and volunteer for candidates who will ensure fair elections. For a list of the Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidates and links to their campaign websites visit Ballotpedia: 2022 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election.