Sen. Wayne D. Fontana: Mail-in voting is the future

In the 2022 general election, more than 5.3 million Pennsylvanians voted. More than 1.4 million of them voted by mail. More people voted in this midterm election in Pennsylvania than in any other midterm ever before, and it’s safe to say that mail-in voting is a big reason why.

In 2019, the General Assembly passed the most significant piece of legislation addressing elections in Pennsylvania in more than 80 years. Act 77 allowed no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time and eliminated straight party voting. It also extended the time for individuals to register to vote. This legislation was initiated by Republicans, who controlled both chambers of the General Assembly, and was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. All but one Republican in the Legislature voted for mail-in voting.

Despite this, as has been well-documented in media outlets everywhere, many Republicans have made baseless accusations of fraud related to mail-in voting in the 2020 presidential election. In Pennsylvania, many Republican leaders and candidates have gone out of their way to discourage voters from voting by mail. And Republican voters have listened. In this most recent election, more than 863,000 Democrats returned mail-in and absentee ballots compared to fewer than 266,000 Republicans.

However, maybe things are starting to change in Pennsylvania.

The Tribune-Review article “Some Republican leaders say GOP needs to embrace mail-in voting” (Nov. 13, TribLIVE) quotes some Republican leaders in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties as citing the party’s refusal to embrace mail-in voting as a reason their candidates lost this year. A Republican congressional candidate who lost his election said in the article, “if we’re going to win the election, we better encourage people to use mail-in ballots. … we’re putting our team at a significant disadvantage by not using mail-in ballots.”

Utah, which last elected a Democratic governor in 1980, enacted legislation in 2012 that conducts all elections by mail. All registered voters in Utah are mailed a ballot before each election and ballots can be returned by mail or in some counties by using a drop box. Nearly 70% of eligible voters in Utah voted in the 2020 presidential election and of the nearly 1.5 million ballots, most were returned through the mail or delivered to a drop box. Donald Trump won Utah by more than 20 points over Joe Biden.

A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll released prior to the 2022 general election showed nearly 90% of all Utahns were “confident” to “very confident” that their state and local government will conduct a fair and accurate election.

A state controlled by Republicans, Utah, votes entirely by mail, safely, securely and efficiently, and their residents trust the results.

This should not be a partisan issue. Mail-in voting allows more people to participate in democracy. Older voters who maybe don’t get around as well as they used to can vote without leaving their homes. People who work on Election Day or travel for work can vote by mail and not have to take time off to exercise their constitutional right.

Many counties continue to have difficulty finding enough workers to work polling places on Election Day. A shift to mail-in voting eliminates that problem and saves counties money in the process.

As a new Senate session begins in 2023, I will once again introduce legislation that would conduct all elections entirely by mail, legislation I first introduced in 2020. My legislation will also allow pre-canvassing of ballots prior to Election Day so that ballot counting takes place more quickly and efficiently.

I am hopeful that Republican leadership in Harrisburg listens to their local leaders on the ground and sees the benefits of mail-in voting. Mail-in voting is efficient, safe and secure. Regardless of party affiliation, we all should want as many people participating in democracy as possible. Let us step up and pass another significant reform to our voting laws that gives us our best chance of that happening.

Sen. Wayne D. Fontana represents the 42nd District and is Senate Democratic Caucus Chair.