Maloney Supports Bills Making It Easy to Vote but Hard to Cheat

June 16, 2021

HARRISBURG – It is vitally important that our citizens have confidence that all votes counted in elections were fairly cast by individuals in Pennsylvania who are eligible to vote, and Rep. David Maloney (R-Berks) has introduced House Bill 1334 to ensure this confidence.

“My legislation is very simple and pragmatic – it will require that when registering to vote a person demonstrate they are a U.S. citizen before their registration is considered complete,” Maloney said. “To make this process simple for individuals registering to vote, I made certain the legislation details the large number of ways a potential voter may demonstrate citizenship.”

To ensure federal law is adhered to – which is that only U.S. citizens may vote in federal, state or local elections – Maloney’s legislation requires copies of birth certificates for those seeking to register to vote be provided at no cost to potential voters.

Furthermore, the legislation requires the secretary of State and County Boards of Elections to attempt to obtain evidence of citizenship on behalf of all applicants who have not completed this requirement themselves.

“Read any government publication or government-run website about qualifications for legally voting in U.S. elections and the first requirement you will see is you MUST BE A U.S. CITIZEN,” Maloney said. “House Bill 1334 simply puts this requirement into effect by requiring proof of United States citizenship in order to complete the voter registration process.

“While this would take care of ensuring future voters are indeed qualified to vote, it would not do anything about unauthorized people who are currently registered to vote,” Maloney said. “To address that issue, I am co-sponsoring House Bill 1596, legislation creating a constitutional amendment allowing The People to vote on whether Pennsylvania should have Voter ID. Identical legislation in the Senate, Senate Bill 735, was approved by the Senate State Government Committee this week.

“These uncomplicated and common-sense pieces of legislation will help ensure the integrity of our electoral system and give voters the confidence that an election has been conducted fairly,” concluded Maloney.

Representative David Maloney
130th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Charles Lardner
717.260.6443
clardner@pahousegop.com
RepMaloney.com