Partisan gridlock prevents fixes to Pennsylvania’s voting laws as presidential election looms

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is seeing lots of action targeting gaps in its vote-by-mail laws. The problem is that it’s in the courtroom and not the legislature.

That could make the most populous presidential swing state a hotbed of challenges and conspiracy theories if the November election is close, as expected.

The state also has a U.S. Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick that will help determine control of the chamber, increasing scrutiny on election offices if lawmakers can’t break a partisan stalemate and vote-counting is slowed by mailed ballots.

“Everyone just really feels how high the stakes are in Pennsylvania, being the largest swing state in the country,” said Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based good-government group.

Political gridlock in Pennsylvania over election laws dates to 2019, when a Republican-controlled legislature greatly expanded voting by mail in a compromise with then-Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

Within months, then-President Donald Trump began, without evidence, demonizing voting by mail as rife with fraud, turning Republican voters against it and leading Republican lawmakers to backtrack on their support. He has taken contradictory stances this year — promoting mail voting while also supporting lawsuits against it.

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