UPPER DARBY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania’s top elections official went before a congressional policy committee made up of Democrats, in Upper Darby, to discuss election security and voting access.
Pennsylvania acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman says conspiracy theories and misinformation about election security really gained steam when it took days for Pennsylvania to count mail-in votes in the 2020 general election.
“The delay created an opportunity for speculation and conjecture of something afoul in the process,” Chapman said.
She says there has never been any evidence of widespread fraud, but she says two things could help avoid distrust of the process. First, she said, counties should be allowed to pre-canvass or open and prep mail-in ballots so they can be counted more quickly on Election Day.
Under current law, counties cannot start opening mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. “Extending the pre-canvassing period increases the likelihood that election officials can post election results as close to the close of polls as possible,” she said.
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Second, Chaman said, elections in Pennsylvania should be properly funded. “In Pennsylvania, counties bear virtually all the cost to run elections at every level,” she said, adding that counties have long needed more support.
She said many counties in Pennsylvania had to turn to private grants to close funding gaps in the 2020 election.
Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature say outside funding of elections casts doubt on the entire process. It has fueled misinformation campaigns about election security, even though there are no credible claims of any wrongdoing.
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Committee of Seventy President and CEO Al Schmidt, who was the lone Republican on Philadelphia’s elections board in 2020, testified at the hearing, saying he can’t imagine what Philadelphia’s counting process would have looked like without that access to outside grants.
Chapman called on members of Congress to support President Joe Biden’s $15 billion proposal to fund elections — “including $10 billion to go directly to states and $5 billion to improve postal delivery of mail-in ballots.”