State Representative Barbara Gleim | Pennsylvania 199th Legislative District
State Representative Barbara Gleim | Pennsylvania 199th Legislative District
HARRISBURG – With Election Day approaching, Reps. Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon) and Dawn Keefer (R-York/Cumberland), along with over a dozen House colleagues, sent a letter to acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman, urging her to issue a directive to county election officials on the proper handling of absentee and mail-in ballots.
Ryan and Keefer, members of the House State Government Committee, which has conducted several public hearings on election procedures and proposed reforms, were prompted by Chapman’s recent directive. This directive contradicts testimony given under oath by Deputy Secretary of State Jonathan Marks regarding the department’s policy on verifying the identity of applicants for absentee and mail-in ballots.
The letter references Marks' testimony at a Sept. 14, 2022 committee hearing, where he stated that counties are responsible for verifying voter ID before counting a ballot. Marks indicated that the Department of State uses PennDOT and the Social Security Administration’s Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) systems to check IDs and Social Security numbers on applications but noted that counties must send ballots regardless of verification status. This contradicts Chapman’s subsequent directive advising counties to verify voter identification before sending out ballots.
The lawmakers' letter cites Department of State data as of Oct. 21, 2022, showing approximately 240,000 ballots marked as “not verified” leading up to the Nov. 8 election. These unverified ballots often result from transposed numbers or letters; however, under law, election officials must set these aside and verify identification before counting them.
“It is extremely alarming that ballots have been sent to and returned by unverified voters,” Keefer said. “This is another glaring gap in Pennsylvania’s election integrity that can be secured by simply following state and federal election laws and requiring all voters be verified before mail-in ballots are issued.”
Ryan added, “The need for internal process controls such as SOC-1 and SOC-2 audits are imperative for us to ensure that our voting systems are sound.”
The letter requests the Department of State act immediately to ensure the integrity of the Nov. 8 election by directing county officials to set aside non-matching identification ballots until valid identification is presented by voters. It also asks Chapman to correct departmental guidance on whether her department or counties are responsible for ID verification on ballot applications. Additionally, it requests a complete list of voter names and IDs for all ballot applications with incorrect PennDOT ID or Social Security numbers from Chapman. Finally, it insists counties certify that all non-matching ballots have been set aside and recorded based on the type of identification produced by voters.
Representative Frank Ryan
101st Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
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