electoral-reform
Election season court fights have cost Pa. taxpayers nearly $4M and counting
Lawyers who netted lucrative contracts with the state include the chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party; an attorney who defended a former Senate leader against federal corruption charges, and even Kentucky’s top elections official, who moonlights as a private attorney.
With one election barely over, state lawmakers look to make fixes ahead of the next one
Time’s likely up for Pennsylvania’s Legislature to override the outcome of the 2020 election. But lawmakers have already turned their eyes to changing how Pennsylvanians vote in the future.
Amid Democratic dissent, brokered election reform bill advances in the Pa. House
The bill allows voters to register up to 15 days before an election and vote by mail, and — most controversially — ends straight-ticket balloting.
There’s bipartisan agreement Pa.’s absentee voting law is broken. Will the Legislature act?
Faced with a smorgasbord of potential electoral reforms at an informal meeting Monday, a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers gravitated toward expanding Pennsylvania’s restrictive and archaic absentee ballot rules. “I hope we can finally finalize a plan to bring no-excuse absentee ballots to Pennsylvania,” Senate State Government Committee Chairman Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, said […]
Wolf borrows $90 million against economic development dollars to fund voting machines
The money will cover 60 percent of the costs incurred by Pennsylvania's 67 counties to purchase new voting machines.
Picking candidates for special elections can be a covert and complicated process. A state lawmaker wants to change that
By primary day in May, Pennsylvania will have seen more special elections than months in 2019.
Rookie lawmakers push legislation to limit General Assembly members’ tenure
Another session, another reform effort. In previous years, campaign finance reform, shrinking the legislature, and redistricting changes have been pushed as a solution to Harrisburg’s dysfunction. This year, House lawmakers from both parties have coalesced around a bill to restrict lawmakers from gaining power through endless tenure in the Capitol. “We are not trying to […]
This powerful Capitol committee has a new chair. He’s not Daryl Metcalfe 2.0
Colleagues expect new House State Government Chair Garth Everett will bring decorum and cooperation to Metcalfe’s old committee