Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 27

at any vote center in their county.27 Benefits include voter
accessibility (voters can vote near home, work, school, or any
other preference), significant cost savings, near-elimination of
voters appearing in incorrect polling places, and reduced need
for provisional ballots.28 Thirteen states of diverse partisan
and demographic inclinations allow vote centers. Voters still
continue to vote only for the slate for which they are eligible.
Combining vote centers with no-excuse absentee voting,
voters gain substantial flexibility in their options for voting.

determinations - so the data being used is current as voters
update their information for these other public services.20
This leads to increasing voter registration while at the same
time increasing the accuracy and integrity of the voter rolls.21
Governor Wolf has advocated for both of these registration
advances for Pennsylvanians, and hopes to work with
the General Assembly to enact legislation such as those
introduced this term.22

B. No-Excuse Absentee and
other voting options

III. Voters' Belief that their Vote
Matters and their Voice is Heard

Pennsylvania requires voters to have one of a limited number
of reasons to vote absentee, including those related to
one's job, illness, disability, or service in the military,23 and
still utilizes antiquated mail timeframes and burdensome
requirements for people with disabilities. In contrast, 27
states and the District of Columbia have no-excuse absentee
voting, which allows voters to vote absentee by choice,
for any reason or no reason at all.24 Approximately 10 of
these states have expanded this policy to provide voters the
opportunity to request absentee status permanently and
receive an absentee ballot automatically each election.25 The
impact of these options on turnout appears to be greatest
for seniors and voters with disabilities; studies have found
that people with disabilities were 6.9% more likely to vote
where they had the option of no-excuse absentee voting.26
The Wolf administration and county election directors have
been developing model legislation, and hopefully Pennsylvania voters will see the benefit of this option available soon.

In the end, voter engagement will not increase meaningfully unless we enact reforms that assure voters that their
vote matters and their voice is heard. Two major complications are gerrymandering and money in politics. The public
is overwhelmingly in favor of redistricting reform: enabling
independent commissions to oversee the drawing of district
lines, prohibit participation by elected officials, and forbid
consideration of political affiliations or previous election
results.29 PA had a real opportunity to enact this reform this
term, before legislators looking to defeat it attached poison
pill amendments and recessed for the summer.30 Also critical
is campaign finance reform, limiting the oversized influence
of money in politics; several bills were introduced this term
restricting campaign contributions and increasing transparency and reporting.31
Though the clock may be about to run out on redistricting
reform in time for this census, hopefully the General
Assembly will enact many of these measures to boost citizens'
confidence that their vote matters, strengthen registration and
voting options, and advance democracy for Pennsylvanians. 

Other voting access options being explored across the
country are Vote Centers. There are several variations, but
most commonly voters are provided with the option to vote
20 Brennan Center, Case for Automatic Voter Registration
21 Brennan Center, Automatic Voter Registration; https://www.
brennancenter.org/analysis/automatic-voter-registration
22 Governor Wolf Announces 21st Century Voting Reform Plan
for Pennsylvania, https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-wolfannounces-21st-century-voting-reform-plan-pennsylvania/
(March 26, 2018)
23 http://www.votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Voting-byAbsentee-Ballot.aspx
24 Voting by Mail and Absentee Voting, MIT Election Data &
Science Lab, https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/voting-mailand-absentee-voting
25 Id.
26 U.S. Election Assistance Commission White Paper, Eavs Deep
Dive: Early, Absentee And Mail Voting (Oct 17, 2017), https://
www.eac.gov/documents/2017/10/17/eavs-deep-dive-earlyabsentee-and-mail-voting-data-statutory-overview/; Defining
the Barriers to Political Participation for Individuals with

27
28

29

30

31
27

Disabilities," Thad E. Hall and R. Michael Alvarez, p. 4 (May
14, 2012), http://elections.itif.org/reports/AVTI-001-HallAlvarez-2012.pdf
National Conference of State Legislatures, http://www.ncsl.org/
research/elections-and-campaigns/vote-centers.aspx
Id.; Use of Vote Centers on the Rise Nationwide, Pew
Charitable Trusts, http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-andanalysis/articles/2015/01/15/use-of-vote-centers-on-the-risenationwide
See, e.g. Poll Shows Strong Bipartisan Opposition to Partisan
Gerrymandering, https://www.commoncause.org/democracywire/poll-shows-strong-bipartisan-opposition-to-partisangerrymandering/
Time running out for Pennsylvania gerrymandering reform,
http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20180627/
time-running-out-for-pennsylvania-gerrymandering-reform
Governor Wolf Announces 21st Century Voting Reform Plan
for Pennsylvania
SUMMER 2018

http://elections.itif.org/reports/AVTI-001-Hall-Alvarez-2012.pdf https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/automatic-voter-registration http://elections.itif.org/reports/AVTI-001-Hall-Alvarez-2012.pdf https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/automatic-voter-registration http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vote-centers.aspx http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vote-centers.aspx https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-wolf-announces-21st-century-voting-reform-plan-pennsylvania/ https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-wolf-announces-21st-century-voting-reform-plan-pennsylvania/ http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2015/01/15/use-of-vote-centers-on-the-rise-nationwide http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2015/01/15/use-of-vote-centers-on-the-rise-nationwide http://www.votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Voting-by-Absentee-Ballot.aspx http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2015/01/15/use-of-vote-centers-on-the-rise-nationwide http://www.votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Voting-by-Absentee-Ballot.aspx https://www.commoncause.org/democracy-wire/poll-shows-strong-bipartisan-opposition-to-partisan-gerrymandering/ https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/voting-mail-and-absentee-voting https://www.commoncause.org/democracy-wire/poll-shows-strong-bipartisan-opposition-to-partisan-gerrymandering/ https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/voting-mail-and-absentee-voting https://www.commoncause.org/democracy-wire/poll-shows-strong-bipartisan-opposition-to-partisan-gerrymandering/ http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20180627/time-running-out-for-pennsylvania-gerrymandering-reform https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/10/17/eavs-deep-dive-early-absentee-and-mail-voting-data-statutory-overview/ http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20180627/time-running-out-for-pennsylvania-gerrymandering-reform https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/10/17/eavs-deep-dive-early-absentee-and-mail-voting-data-statutory-overview/ https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/10/17/eavs-deep-dive-early-absentee-and-mail-voting-data-statutory-overview/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Writs - Summer 2018