Sep. 27, 2023
HARRISBURG – Last week, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced his administration will start automatically registering anyone to vote who either obtains or renews their driver’s license or state I.D.
State Rep. Jamie Barton (R-Berks/Schuylkill) issued the following statement on the move:
“I fully support every eligible Pennsylvanian exercising his or her right to vote. It’s our civic duty. But voters’ confidence in our election system is near an all-time low and this move does nothing to ease voters’ minds. In fact, it’s further challenging their faith in our election process.
“The governor’s system has not been vetted. There are so many questions that, to this point, have yet to be answered. How will this system hold up to hackers? Will PennDOT staff be trained to address voter registration questions? How will this system prevent duplicate registrations? What about drivers under the age of 18? There are legislative proposals that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. If those proposals pass, how would this system ensure these people aren’t automatically registered to vote?
“I also find it ironic that Democrats have been fighting Republican efforts to require state I.D. to vote for years, yet our Democratic governor is now using those same I.D. cards to automatically register people to vote.
“But my biggest concern with the governor’s executive mandate is that he went around the General Assembly. The people of Pennsylvania elect us to make the laws. That lawmaking process would have helped nail down the issues that will likely come up when using this new system.
“Governor Shapiro regularly comments that Republicans and Democrats can work together to get things done. I agree with you, governor. So please, let us do our jobs.”
Rep. Jamie Barton
124th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jake Gillespie
717.772.9834
JGillespie@pahousegop.com
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