Top elections official says Pa. should replace its system for 'early voting'
HARRISBURG — The state’s top elections official on Thursday revisited one of the few headaches Pennsylvania had running the 2024 election — lots of people showing up before Election Day to do mail ballots in person — and said the system should be changed.
Secretary of State Al Schmidt said it wasn’t true “early voting,” even though some people may have called it that. During a Senate budget hearing, Mr. Schmidt said other states carry out genuine early voting in less clunky fashion.
“It really has put an incredible strain on our system at the county level,” Mr. Schmidt told lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee. County-level election staffers “spend the entire day processing in-person applications” and their other duties are neglected, he said.
His testimony came on the third day of legislative hearings on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed $51.5 billion budget for 2025-26.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2025/02/20/pennsylvania-shapiro-election-voting-al-schmidt-senate/stories/202502200073