AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
June 30, 2022
Issue
Ask Governor Wolf to Sign This Bill Into Law
Details
The legislature has moved quickly on this bill as summer recess approaches. On June 6 the State Senate passed SB 573, followed by the State House on June 28. It was a party line vote, with all GOP voting for it and all Democrats voting against it. The bill now lays on the desk of Governor Wolf. He has three choices to make within the next ten days: sign the bill into law, allow the bill to become law without his signature or veto the bill.
Senator Doug Mastriano is the prime sponsor of the Poll Watcher Empowerment Act. From his co-sponsorship memo: “Under this new bill, all registered voters of Pennsylvania will be eligible to be a poll watcher in any precinct in the state of Pennsylvania. These watchers will not be required to be a resident of the county, municipality, or precinct they are appointed to.
Candidates for office will be able to appoint two poll watchers per precinct.
Additionally, each political party will have the opportunity to appoint three watchers per precinct.
My bill will also levy penalties on any election officials who block, impede, or otherwise intimidate a poll watcher while performing in his or her official duties on Election Day.”
Action Steps
A secure election should NOT be a partisan issue, but we have seen it become one since November 2020. Ask Governor Wolf to sign SB 573 into law by clicking here