There are plenty of ideas for election reform floating around the state, including making it easier to vote, registering more voters and redefining who draws district lines. Pennsylvania lawmakers plan to introduce more than 20 bills this session to reshape the state’s election rules. Sen. Lawrence M. Farnese Jr., a Philadelphia Democrat, plans to offer a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote. When preregistered, an individual would be automatically registered to vote in the first election after he or she turns 18. Farnese’s memo on the bill says 22 states already allow for preregistration before age 18. … Republican Sen. Pat Stefano of Fayette County aims to develop a secure online system for military and overseas voters to return their absentee ballots electronically with a bill he plans to reintroduce.
The federal Military and Overseas Voters Empowerment, or MOVE, Act of 2009 requires states to provide blank absentee ballots to military and overseas voters in at least one electronic format.
“Unfortunately, these voters in Pennsylvania are still required to print out their ballot; fill it out by hand; and return it by mail,” Stefano wrote in his memo. “My proposed legislation will give them the option of returning their ballots by secure electronic means.”
Stefano’s bill, called Senate Bill 563 in the 2017-18 session, passed the Senate State Government Committee unanimously, but died at the end of the session, Stefano’s memo said.
Full Article: Election reform subject of many bills in Harrisburg.