Government Policy
On Our Radar
Voting Processes and Election Reform
The League of Women Voters is a champion for ensuring and improving access to voting for all eligible voters. Voting should be secure and convenient. As a non-partisan organization we are extremely troubled by current partisan efforts to make changes that are unfavorable to all voters. The League supports efforts to adequately fund, staff, and equip election offices at the state and county levels. We support the use of secure and modern election systems, including state databases and election tools, such as e-poll books. The League believes polling places should be well prepared for election-day operations with enough trained poll workers, functioning equipment, and adequate ballots and supplies. We also support pre-canvassing and allowing preparation for ballot tallying in advance of election day, according to recommendations of county election administrators and in accordance with best practices.
Voting Access
Regarding voter access, LWVPA supports policies that ensure that elections are accessible, transparent, fair, secure and promote universal voter participation, and provide voters with meaningful choices when they go to the polls. A key imperative of that must be that the voters pick the legislators rather than the legislators picking the voters. This is a foundation of both republican and democratic governance. Voting should be made easier, more accessible, more convenient, with more ‘consumer’ choices that are clear. The system must be designed to succeed, and must be funded to do so. We commend efforts to pursue solutions that have broad agreement and require the government to make things easy for the voter, instead of asking voters to make things easier for the government. We believe voting laws should ensure voter privacy and voter data security. We support no-excuse mail voting, the use of ballot drop-boxes; early voting; expanded hours for voters to access voter services. We oppose hurdles to voting, such as unnecessarily limited voter ID rules and hard-to-understand absentee/mail voting rules. We oppose the passage of SB 1, a constitutional amendment package which would limit voting access and erode trust in election integrity.
Redistricting
Current PA law puts state legislators in charge of redistricting—the process of redrawing voting districts, which happens every 10 years to reflect population changes. The 2022 redistricting process yielded far better maps than in past decades, in part due to a conscientious commission chair, in part due to an attentive PA Supreme Court, in part thanks to thousands of PA citizens paying close attention. But without real reform, the process is still partisan, still allows legislators to choose their voters, and continues to fuel partisan distrust. Fair Districts PA, a project of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, is a nonpartisan, statewide coalition of organizations and individuals working to create a process for redistricting that is transparent, impartial, and fair. Read more here for updates and to get involved in advocating for fair districts.
Abolition of Electoral College and National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
LWVUS believes strongly that the Electoral College should be abolished and not merely ‘reformed.’ Until this occurs, LWVPA supports Pennsylvania joining the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. LWVPA continues to support the 270 by 2024 campaign in Pennsylvania.
Opening Primaries to Unaffiliated Voters
Pennsylvania is one of only nine states with fully closed primaries, where only registered Republicans and Democrats participate, sending candidates to the general election by a small sector of the electorate. The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania supports abandoning the closed primary system in favor of either the semi-open or open primary (see Where We Stand). One solution is to open primaries to unaffiliated voters. Legislation to do just that passed in the Pennsylvania Senate in 2019 with wide bipartisan support. Bills have been introduced again in the current legislative session. Bringing more voters into the primary would encourage candidates to engage with a wider electorate earlier in the election cycle and, once elected, govern toward solutions to a broader set of issues.
On August 16th 2023, LWVPA members testified in front of the House State Government Committee in favor of open primaries.
Click here to watch the testimony.