FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Contact:

SPA Press, Press@joshshapiro.org

 

 Josh Shapiro Announces Plan to Defend Democracy, Ensure Access to the Ballot Box, & Improve Elections on the Anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection

“It’s on all of us to do our patriotic duty and defend American democracy.” – Josh Shapiro

As Republicans continue to threaten democratic institutions and peddle the dangerous lies, Josh Shapiro releases a ten-point plan to defend democracy in Pennsylvania.

 

PENNSYLVANIA – On the anniversary of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Attorney General Josh Shapiro unveiled his ten-point plan to defend democracy, ensure access to the ballot box, and improve elections as the next Governor of Pennsylvania. The systematic attempt to destabilize American democracy following the 2020 election failed because a handful of state and local officials upheld their oaths to the Constitution – underscoring the critical importance of good governance at the state level.

In the lead up to and following the 2020 election, Josh was one of those officials – defeating the former president’s attempts to restrict the right to vote and overturn the election in court, ensuring that every legal vote was counted, and standing up to dangerous lies and sham “audits” pushed by Republicans in Harrisburg. Throughout 2021, Josh has continued to loudly call out efforts to destabilize democracy, and he’s gone to court repeatedly to defend Pennsylvania elections and the right to vote.

In conjunction with the announcement of Josh’s plan, his campaign released a new digital ad highlighting his role in defending democracy over the past two years. Click here to watch the video.

“The attacks on our democracy didn’t stop after January 6th – anti-democratic partisans continue to peddle lies and attack our institutions solely for political gain. Far-right extremists are hellbent on undermining our elections and attacking the Constitution, so it’s on all of us to do our patriotic duty and defend American democracy,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “If we want to grow our economy, improve our schools, or make our communities safer, then we need a stable foundation of our democracy. As Attorney General, I spoke truth to their lies and went to court to protect Pennsylvanians’ rights; as Governor, I will continue to ensure voting security, protect every citizen’s right to vote, and make sure every legal vote is counted in every election.”

Josh’s record of defending the Constitution and plan to defend democracy stands in stark contrast to the Republican field, which remains beholden to the far-right and dangerous conspiracy theories that threaten our system of government. The main candidates in the Republican primary for Governor still refuse to admit that Joe Biden is the legitimate winner of the 2020 election despite two legal, bipartisan reviews and no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Republican candidates continue to lie to Pennsylvanians, falsely claiming “dead people have been voting […] for a long time,” and pursuing a sham “audit” that would jeopardize Pennsylvanians’ private information – one candidate even attended the insurrection and breached police lines to walk with now-convicted criminals.   

The next Governor will play a critical role defending Pennsylvania democracy – heading in 2022, the Legislature is considering 30 bills restricting access to voting, according to the Brennan Center. Josh Shapiro has stood up to those lies and defeated Republican attacks in court before, and as Governor, he will never back down in the fight to defend American democracy. See below to learn more about Shapiro’s ten-step plan to to defend democracy, ensure access to the ballot, and improve elections:

 

DEFEND DEMOCRACY.

VETO ANY EFFORT TO RESTRICT MAIL-IN VOTING.

Harrisburg Republicans overwhelmingly supported Act 77, which created no-excuse mail-in voting in 2019 – and millions of Pennsylvanians used mail-in ballots to vote safely and securely in 2020. But at the behest of Donald Trump, the Republican candidates for    Governor now want to dramatically restrict mail-in voting and upend the current system. As Governor, Josh will veto any bill that eliminates or restricts no-excuse mail-in voting.

 

APPOINT A SECRETARY OF STATE WHO WILL UPHOLD THE LAW AND DEFEND DEMOCRACY. 

In the face of unprecedented attacks on our democracy and election laws, from far-right extremists who want to overturn the 2020 election, it is crucial that we have the right leaders in charge who will run our elections fairly and protect our democracy. That’s why, as Governor, Josh will appoint a skilled and experienced Secretary of State – the chief official in charge of election administration across the Commonwealth – who will ensure that our elections are conducted securely and fairly and ensure every eligible voter can make their voices heard. 

 

CONTINUE AND EXPAND LEGITIMATE COUNTY ELECTION AUDITS. 

Josh understands that the success of our democracy is largely dependent on the trust that people have in our institutions – and he’s fought back against illegitimate efforts to seize Pennsylvanians’ private information for partisan purposes. As Governor, Josh will help ensure the stability of our democracy by making available resources to make certain that every county in the Commonwealth can conduct a post election analysis through a risk limiting audit (RLA). In 2020, 63 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties performed this audit.

 

EXTEND PROHIBITION ON FIREARMS AT POLLING PLACES.

During the 2020 election, law enforcement leaders dealt with increased threats and security concerns around voting locations, and on January 6th, we saw armed insurrectionists breach our nation’s Capitol. Josh will sign legislation similar to what has been previously introduced by state House Democrats to make Pennsylvania’s law uniform and extend the prohibition on firearms to include all polling places, similar to laws on the books in states like Texas, Georgia, and Florida.

 

ENSURE ACCESS TO THE BALLOT BOX.

ESTABLISH AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION (AVR).

Currently, the Commonwealth requires that individuals opt-in to register to vote, even after utilizing services at state agencies like the DMV, resulting in hundreds of thousands fewer registered voters. Under Josh’s proposed AVR plan, an eligible voter over 18 who applies for a driver’s license or state identification through the DMV would automatically be registered to vote, which could result in hundreds of thousands of eligible voters becoming registered. As Governor, Josh will sign a bill to institute AVR in the Commonwealth – a process that has been adopted by 22 states and the District of Columbia. 

 

IMPLEMENT SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH ELECTION DAY.

Currently, unregistered voters in Pennsylvania must register to vote 15 days before Election Day. To make voting as accessible as possible, Josh believes voters should be able to both register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day during his proposed early voting period or on Election Day. In order to ensure only legally eligible people are voting, under Josh’s plan, a prospective voter who is not registered but wants to make their voice heard will be given a provisional ballot. The ballot will not be counted until the individual’s identification is verified in the registration process. As Governor, Josh would sign legislation to make same-day voter registration available in Pennsylvania.

 

EXPAND PRE-REGISTRATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG VOTERS.

Voting is a patriotic duty and Pennsylvania should do more to encourage civic participation among students and young people. In Florida, where they implemented a pre-registration program, turnout among young voters increased roughly 4.7 percent following implementation. As Governor, Josh will sign legislation ensuring eligible young voters have the opportunity to participate in elections as soon as they turn 18.

 

ESTABLISH EARLY IN-PERSON VOTING.

Almost half of the states around the country give voters some form of early, in-person voting opportunity so that every legally eligible voter has plenty of time to exercise their fundamental right to vote as an American. Pennsylvania is not one of those states. As Governor, Josh will sign legislation to establish early in-person voting for a dedicated period of time before election day, a measure that enjoys bipartisan support across the Commonwealth.

 

IMPROVE ELECTIONS.

ALLOW PRE-CANVASSING & PROVIDE NECESSARY RESOURCES TO COUNTIES. 

As a former County Commissioner, Josh Shapiro understands the unique challenges counties face when overseeing elections and the importance of working closely with both the legislature and executive offices to ensure election integrity. Following the 2020 election, the inability to pre-canvass mail-in ballots led to delays in reporting election results. As Governor, Josh will sign legislation, enabling and funding the pre-processing and pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots, following the example of 17 states – including Ohio, North Carolina, and Arizona – and recommendations of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and legislative leaders from both parties.

 

CREATE A CENTRALIZED SITE TO REPORT ALL ELECTION RESULTS.

Unfortunately, to find the election results of non-statewide races, the Commonwealth relies on individual county websites and news sites – that may be delayed or difficult to find. As Governor, Josh will create a single, easy-to-use website to report every election result in the Commonwealth in one place so that reporting is accurate, timely, and easy to access.

 

Click here to read the full plan.

 

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