House Advances Bill Allowing Counties To Pre-Canvass Mail Ballots

A long-time request of county election officials moved one step closer to being answered on Tuesday as the State House advanced a bill allowing counties to pre-canvass mail-in ballots.

The legislation would permit counties to inspect and open all envelopes containing official absentee ballots or mail-in ballots, the removal of the ballots from the envelopes, and the counting, computing, and tallying of the votes reflected on the ballots. It does not include the recording or publishing of the votes reflected on the ballots.

Under current law, pre-canvassing of mail-in and absentee ballots cannot begin until 7 a.m. on Election Day.

Sponsored by Rep. Scott Conklin (R-Centre), House Bill 37 gives county election officials seven days prior to Election Day to pre-canvass all mail and absentee ballots received. The vote advanced by a 103-99 vote with Rep. Thomas Mehaffie (R-Dauphin) joining all 102 Democrats in the affirmative. The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled state Senate.




https://politicspa.com/house-advances-bill-allowing-counties-to-pre-canvass-mail-ballots/149185/