Pa. appears strong in report on voting, but some blemishes

(Washington, DC) —Two years ago, Pennsylvania had complete data lists for voter registration and rejected very few ballots through the mail.

But a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts finds the commonwealth is below average in both turnout and voter registration rate.

The Election Performance Index is meant to examine how easy it is to vote in states – along with factors like vote wait times and how many registrations are rejected.

David Becker, director of the Trusts’ Election Initiatives, says instituting online registration could remove some barriers for potential voters…

“There are advantages to the accuracy to the list, because it’s much more convenient and easy for voters to update their information after they move, as well as cost effectiveness because you’re getting rid of all that paper that needs to be processed and the voter themselves is inputting the information directly into the voter list.”

Maryland and New Jersey both offer online voter registration, while Ohio, West Virginia and New York do not.

The report shows turnout in Pennsylvania actually fell about five percent in 20-12 compared to the 2008 presidential election.