Hello, Pennsylvania!

We’ve got plenty of news to share with you this week, so buckle up!

Yes, we will get to the president’s executive order. But first, let’s start a little closer to home.

The saga of Chester County continues. You’re no doubt well aware of the issue last November with the county printing pollbooks without third-party and independent voters. And, if you’re a loyal reader, you’ll also remember the story we broke in February about the mail ballot applications the county sent out with voter’s first and last names reversed.

Well, now the county’s election director, who led the department during both of those mishaps, is resigning. Karen Barsoum didn’t directly say in her memo last week that it was because of those incidents, but it’s hard not to wonder if her decision is a reaction to the criticism she faced. Read that story here. 

Next up, we recently published an analysis of the state’s automatic voter registration system. You already know, from the state’s weekly data on the program, that it registers roughly even amounts for Democrats and Republicans, with independent and third-party voters fairing a bit better. What we wanted to know is where in the state these voters are, and more importantly, are they actually voting? 

The conclusion: Rural areas are seeing some big bumps, but automatically registered voters aren’t the most active. Get the details here. 

This week’s quote comes to us courtesy of Gov. Josh Shapiro. He posted on X in reaction to Trump’s new executive order on mail voting. The governor went on to say he “will protect” Pennsylvanians’ right to vote. Might we see Shapiro file or join a lawsuit against the executive order? Shapiro is certainly no stranger to suing Trump, as he did many times as attorney general. I guess for now we’ll have to wait and see. 

In debate over the SAVE America Act last month, Sen. Dave McCormick raised a point about a handful of instances of noncitizen voting and added that several elections in recent years have been decided by close margins.

“Now, critics of the SAVE America Act say such cases are rare, but in 2024, two — two — of the five swing state Senate races were decided by less than 0.3 of a percentage point, and the other three races were decided by 2 percentage points or less,” McCormick said. “The key point here is it doesn’t take that many illegal votes to swing an election and, by doing so, to change the course of history.”

As the New York Times pointed out, McCormick’s statement is factually accurate, but lacks context. Yes, there have been a handful of instances where noncitizens cast ballots, but the number of these instances fall far below the margins of the elections McCormick referenced, and there is no known instance where ballots cast by noncitizens changed the outcome of an election. 

Rossman vs. PA Department of State

This is a new lawsuit we’re tracking. A county commissioner from Potter County is suing the department over what he says are improper directives from the secretary of the commonwealth. Rossman argues that the state’s directive to accept voter registration applications when a driver’s license number or partial Social Security number does not match government records violates state law. The state’s Commonwealth Court upheld the directive, but Rossman appealed the matter to the state Supreme Court. Right now, we’re waiting on a response filing from the department, which should come later this month. After that, keep an eye out for a full story from us. 

What else should I look into? You can always reach me by email at [email protected], on X @ByCarterWalker, or on Bluesky @bycarterwalker.bsky.social.

And if you know someone who might be interested in our reporting on elections and voting throughout Pennsylvania, forward them this newsletter — they can sign up for it here.

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