{"id":1626410,"date":"2022-08-30T07:32:41","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T11:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1626410"},"modified":"2022-08-30T07:33:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T11:33:07","slug":"pennsylvania-abruptly-adds-mail-in-ballot-application-to-voter-registration-form-mid-election-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-abruptly-adds-mail-in-ballot-application-to-voter-registration-form-mid-election-cycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Abruptly Adds Mail-In Ballot Application To Voter Registration Form Mid-Election Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpennsylvania-abruptly-adds-mail-in-ballot-application-to-voter-registration-form-mid-election-cycle%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1626410&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Pennsylvania Department of State just changed its voter registration form to include a mail-in ballot application \u2014 in the middle of an election cycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 19, the Department of State combined the originally separate applications \u2014 voter registration and mail-in ballot \u2014 into one new form just 11 weeks before the general election.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While election officials say the change was made\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/politics\/election\/pennsylvania-new-voter-registration-ballot-application-form-20220823.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to simplify the process<\/a>, county election officials are concerned the new form will create chaos and undermine voter confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe this proposed form is likely to stoke new and undue confusion, concern and skepticism among voters at a time when it is imperative that we rebuild trust in our election system,\u201d Bucks County Elections Director Thomas Freitag wrote in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/22159292\/letter-to-acting-secretary-chapman-wm.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a>\u00a0sent to the Department of State.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Freitag mentioned that the Department of State didn\u2019t inform counties of this change until about three weeks before and that in his discussions with county officials across Pennsylvania, \u201cthe consensus against this move was so resounding that a workgroup was formed to provide meaningful feedback to the State.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Dauphin County Elections Director Gerald Feaser Jr. echoed Freitag\u2019s sentiments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis dramatic change in front-line service of voters with a dual registration\/mail-in ballot application so close to a potentially pivotal election is a terrible idea. My concern is based on my experience \u2014 and the shared experience of the other 66 election directors across Pennsylvania \u2014 since Act 77 of 2019,\u201d Feaser\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/22159291\/dauphincountyletter08192022-wm.pdf\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/14\/court-decision-may-invalidate-pennsylvanias-no-excuse-mail-in-vote-law\/\">Act 77<\/a>\u00a0is the controversial election reform bill Republicans passed in 2019. It brought no-excuse mail-in balloting to Pennsylvania, among other changes.<\/p>\n<p>Voters are also expressing concern about the new form. Lancaster County Elections Director Christa Miller\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/pennsylvania-abruptly-changes-voter-registration-form-combines-with-mail-in-ballot-application_4691620.html?utm_source=ref_share&amp;utm_campaign=mb-cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told The Epoch Times<\/a>\u00a0that voters are unsure if they are registering to vote or registering for mail-in voting. The new form is now two pages, with the voter registration form on the front and the mail-in ballot application on the back. County officials are worried people registering to vote will be confused because the signature box is right below the mail-in balloting section.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\">\n<p><figcaption class=\"col-12 col-md-6 body-xs px-15 pe-md-0 ps-md-30 py-15 m-0 text-center\">Pennsylvania Department of State<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Election officials will now have to process two different actions with one form, in what is sure to amount to a logistical headache. Originally, voter registration and mail-in ballot applications were filed separately, but now counties must process half of the new form first and then make a copy of the mail-in ballot portion and file that second. And election officials are not prepared for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were flooded with duplicate applications, and irate voters who received a mail-in ballot for the 2020 election who wanted to vote in person and were forced to cast a provisional ballot,\u201d Feaser continued. \u201cWe lost large numbers of poll workers because of the threats and anger directed at them by voters who became permanent mail-in voters in error. By rushing this form through, without putting in place appropriate safeguards, the Department is putting political interests ahead of the safety of Pennsylvania\u2019s election workers.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pennsylvania Department of State just changed its voter registration form to include a mail-in ballot application \u2014 in the middle of an election cycle.\u00a0 On Aug. 19, the Department<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1130,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1626410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1626410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1626410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1626410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1626410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}