Pennsylvania will start to register new voters automatically as the state is expected to play a key role in the 2024 presidential election, but some Republicans believe the measure should've been enacted through legislation rather than executive order.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) announced on Tuesday those who seek to obtain or renew a driver’s license or state ID card will be registered to vote, unless stated otherwise, in an effort to save taxpayers time and funds.
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“I’m committed to ensuring free and fair elections that allow every eligible voter to make their voice heard,” the Democratic governor said in a news release. “Automatic voter registration is a commonsense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars.”
The move, which was praised by Republican Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt as “commonsense action” that is “extremely secure and makes the registration process more efficient,” has not been met with the same approval by other GOP members.
Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster said the problem he has with Pennsylvania adopting an automatic voter registration system “is not necessarily the end, but the means.”
"Major policy changes like this vetted through the legislative process instead of hasty unilateral executive action,” Cutler said in a press release.
The GOP member pointed to the 2024 election being expected to be a “hotly contested and close election.”
“Voter identification is a widely supported proposal that makes more sense than ever with this move toward automatic voter registration. If the Commonwealth is automatically registering people to vote when they obtain identification, they should then be required to provide that identification when they vote,” Cutler said Tuesday.
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Republican Caucus Chairman George Dunbar echoed Cutler’s sentiments, telling the Washington Examiner Shapiro’s order will further promote distrust in voting integrity in the Pennsylvania.
“Having served in the House himself," Dunbar said, “Gov. Shapiro knows this is a complete bypass of the General Assembly’s authority.”
"So many Pennsylvanians are distrusting of the election process and that can be blamed almost exclusively on the rogue executive orders and regulations drafted by unelected bureaucrats in the previous administration. I would think that the governor would instead want to work with the legislature instead of playing the same games.”