Empower & Protect The Vote
Common Cause PA is working to ensure that all eligible citizens can register to vote in a convenient, secure, and fair way. By modernizing Pennsylvania’s elections, we are ensuring that voting is secure and accessible to all citizens.
Over the past decade, Common Cause PA has worked for reforms that led to:
- Online Voter Registration: In 2015, Pennsylvania launched its first online voter registration system. Since then, over 3 million Pennsylvanians have registered to vote or updated their voter registration online.
- Modernized Voting Systems: In 2018, Pennsylvania’s outdated voting systems – many of which were unauditable direct recording electronic (DRE) machines – were replaced with new systems that produce voter-verifiable paper ballots.
- Act 77: In 2019, Act 77, the most comprehensive update to Pennsylvania’s Election Code in 80+ years, was passed. This law provided, for the first time, no-excuse mail ballots with a 50-day mail-in voting period, a longer period to register to vote, and an extended deadline for returning absentee and mail-in ballots.
While these reforms led to the largest voter turnout in Pennsylvania history in 2020, there is much more work to be done. Common Cause PA continues to work towards:
- Automatic Voter Registration: Automatically registering eligible voters through government agencies can streamline election administration while making voting more accessible and more secure.
- Same Day Voter Registration: Allowing voters to register and vote on the same day – including during an early voting period – increases access to the ballot box and provides another way to secure the right to vote.
- Risk-limiting post-election audits to confirm that reported election results are accurate.