HARRISBURG – Rep. Jim Gregory (R-Blair) on Tuesday announced intentions to introduce a bill that would repeal the previous expansion of mail-in voting in Pennsylvania.
Gregory circulated a co-sponsorship memo explaining his bill would undo the provisions in Act 77 of 2019, which opened mail-in voting to all Pennsylvanians.
Under the new law, voters do not need to cite a reason when requesting a ballot.
Prior to Act 77, voters needed to give a reason like disability, unexpected illness or last-minute absence to obtain an absentee ballot.
Gregory wants to return to the earlier provisions that were in place before Act 77.
“My office has been flooded with calls and emails from constituents who had issues with mail-in ballots, including those who received them without submitting a request. Additionally, in November, we witnessed an extreme amount of irregularities regarding mail-in ballots,” Gregory said.
“The irregularities that existed from one county to another made this election incredibly confusing for voters and candidates.”
The representative criticized the manner by which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reworked Act 77’s provisions to make mail-in voting untenable.
“I voted for expanding no-excuse, mail-in balloting, but what I didn’t vote for is the activist court and secretary of state changing the rules for the election in the weeks and days leading up to Election Day itself,” he said.