Bipartisan bill strengthening Pennsylvania’s election code passes the House
Sanchez, Grove legislation would align state election laws with the federal Electoral Count Reform Act
Rep. Ben Sanchez July 9, 2024 | 2:58 PM
HARRISBURG, July 9 – Legislation with strong bipartisan support that would ensure timely and accurate presidential election results passed the Pennsylvania House today.
House Bill 2473, sponsored by Rep. Ben Sanchez, D-Montgomery, and Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, would establish firm deadlines for the state to certify presidential election results. This would include Pennsylvania completing its canvassing, recounting, contesting and certification procedures within established deadlines set by the Electoral Count Reform Act. For this year’s presidential election, that deadline would be Dec. 11, 2024.
The lawmakers noted that the current state law lacks these important deadlines. Therefore, this could cause Pennsylvania to miss the federally imposed deadline for certifying presidential election results.
"Ensuring a standardized and timely certification process for election results is crucial to upholding the integrity of our democracy,” Sanchez said. "The passage of the federal Electoral Count Reform Act ensures that every vote is counted and that the will of the people is upheld with clarity and certainty. Our state laws should reflect the same.”
“Election integrity is a nonpartisan issue,” Grove said. “By codifying deadlines for election certification, we can ensure the Department of State is working promptly, and our courts cannot delay rulings. Pennsylvania citizens expect trustworthy and prompt election results, court rulings, and certification; this legislation helps accomplish that goal.”
“I was happy to see this bill come through in the State Government Committee, and to have primary sponsorship from members on both sides of the aisle,” Rep. Carol Hill-Evans, majority chair of the State Government Committee, said. “Agreeing on Pennsylvania’s election procedures and codifying them to be in line with the rest of the country is exactly where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania needs to be.”
Grove and Sanchez added that this small but important change will help ensure that delays for any reason in the post-election process do not prevent Pennsylvania from transmitting timely electoral results for president and vice president in future elections.
House Bill 2473 passed 105-97 and awaits consideration in the state Senate.