Hello, Pennsylvania!

I am still settling back in from some time off, so nothing new from us this week. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still plenty of PA election news to discuss.

In our last edition, we featured Scott Presler’s push for non-juror lists — which are lists of people rejected from jury service for various reasons, including being a non-citizen — as our fact check, noting that the juror list is compiled from a number of sources and being identified as a non-juror by the courts doesn’t mean that person is registered to vote when they shouldn’t be. My fabulous colleagues across the state did some more extensive reporting on the subject while I was away, which I’d like to highlight.

WESA and TribLive both covered it, and as they pointed out, the non-juror list are just lists of names, which don’t include the addresses or birthdays (let alone driver’s license or social security numbers) that election officials typically use to remove ineligible voters from a list. A match on just a name — which is sometimes called a “fuzzy match” — can run the risk of disenfranchising an eligible voter. I recall a story an election administrator told me of initially thinking a dead person was on their voter roll, only to discover it was his son, who shared the name of his deceased father but was very much alive.

Still, Presler’s push is gaining traction. The reporting noted Sen. Dave McCormick has picked it up, the Department of State put out a statement on the issue, and I saw the Chester County GOP claimed they had found noncitizen voters using the list (side note, the committee wouldn’t provide me with their list when I asked).

Where, if anywhere, this goes, or if it is just a passing social media cycle, remains to be seen. If you’re reading this and think you have a list of non-jurors who are registered to vote, send it my way and I’ll personally check it out. 

As for me, my mind is on the governor's race. The governor, whomever he or she may be come January, can have tremendous influence on election policy. So what does Josh Shapiro’s first term track record show? And how much would Stacy Garrity shake things up if she were to best him? Shapiro had big plans coming into office, much of which has been stifled by legislative impasse. Garrity has been dogged by her 2020 election comments, but looking forward, what would her governing priorities on elections look like? Keep an eye out for that story soon.

Also, I remain curious about the state’s SURE upgrade project. I still haven’t seen a detailed outline of where it currently stands, and my understanding is I’m not alone in that. If you’re an election official who was at last week’s conference and you want to leak to me any details the department gave of where it stands, drop me an email.

Quote of the Week

“While the letters might be intended to be threatening, in a way they're really not threatening at all.”

This week’s quote comes to us from Secretary Al Schmidt. Schmidt made the remarks during an event about voter rolls, and was referring to the implied threat of prosecution from the Department of Justice if election officials fail to adequately prevent, in the department's view, noncitizens from registering or voting. Check out a story on that letter from us here.

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. Follow me on TikTok and Instagram for video explainers of Pennsylvania voting and elections news.

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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