(HARRISBURG) – Senator Lisa Baker (R-20) and Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-28) issued the following statement following Governor Wolf’s signing of election integrity legislation, Senate Bill 982.
“We are pleased Governor Wolf has signed Senate Bill 982 into law.
“Pennsylvania needs to see action on actual reforms – necessary, justified, practical – that will improve an election system that has been severely tried and tested in recent years.
“The election amendments we have pushed forward are substantial structural improvements. Some came to light as a result of concerns expressed over improvisations undertaken to conduct a high turnout election during pandemic times. Others respond to long-time requests from county election officials, who have been hampered by restrictions in election law that are proving unworkable with changes in voting practices and the expectations for timely determination of outcomes.
“For us, reform begins with prohibiting private groups from funding election administration. Voting is among our basic rights, and the responsibility for properly running and funding elections is vested in government. No matter who on the outside is contributing, no matter their expressed motivations, millions of dollars coming in from national figures or organizations naturally raises suspicions of hidden agendas.
“This new law creates the Election Integrity Grant Program to provide the resources to upgrade election security measures to help counties adopt new security and personnel requirements quickly. The program comes with accountability measures to ensure our elections process is above reproach.”