Apr. 29, 2022
HARRISBURG – Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced he will have county detectives at ballot drop box locations to ensure a voter returns only one ballot, per the state election law. In response, Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), who shepherded election reform legislation through the General Assembly, issued the following statement:
“I stand with and applaud Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin for preventing illegal voting in Pennsylvania. Ballot drop boxes are not created via Pennsylvania state law and are not polling places thus law enforcement presence is not banned. Having the friendly smile of a county employee ensuring illegal voting does not occur is good policy and should be a best practice in every county.
“It is illegal to vote more than one ballot. Any person who submits more than one ballot is committing a crime. The second ballot submitted is in an illegal vote and is to be set aside and not counted. This is the law, and it needs enforced.
“We are at this unfortunate junction because one man, Gov. Tom Wolf, vetoed
House Bill 1300 without reading it. If he had read it, he’d have learned the bill permitted one spouse to return the ballot of the other spouse, such as what he admitted his wife did for him. This is entirely on the governor’s shoulders, and he needs to work with the General Assembly to address the plethora of issues resulting from court cases, his administration’s unilateral actions and much-needed clarity in our 1937 election laws.
“Enough is enough. Either Gov. Wolf needs to engage the General Assembly on election law changes, or he needs to step aside and accept comprehensive changes which land on his desk. Our voters and election directors cannot continue to vote and operate elections under the current law.
“House Republicans stand ready to work with Gov. Wolf and our colleagues in the Senate.”