Debate over election security intensifies as Trump’s executive order sparks legislative action and state backlash.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month implementing changes to the federal elections process, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement, as well as restrictions on counting mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day.
Pennsylvania’s state leaders are deliberating on how to deal with the news.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt shared during a press conference held Thursday that his office was taking steps to secure voting rights. “There’s a lot there for us to assess, whether it’s from providing in person, documentation of citizenship when registering to voting, to what voting systems can be certified,” Schmidt stated.
Schmidt sent a letter earlier in March to the Trump Administration, warning them that they were the ones taking measures to decrease election security. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is housed within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Kristi Noem recently decreased both the funding and the staff within the division.
In the letter, Schmidt laid out that CISA has been critical in preventing security threats — including bomb threats, misinformation campaigns, and cyber-attacks — all in an effort to make elections in the Commonwealth more secure. He urged DHS to not cut CISA’s role, but in fact strengthen it, emphasizing that no state or local governments have the power to match the federal government’s intelligence and threat mitigation capabilities in securing elections.
Congressional Republicans have taken steps federally to support Trump’s efforts to secure American elections. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE Act was introduced in the House by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) to mandate individuals to provide a proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. It also instructs states to remove noncitizens from their list of eligible voters.
Five Republican U.S. House members from Pennsylvania — Scott Perry, Dan Meuser, Guy Reschenthaler, Glenn Thompson, and John Joyce — have cosponsored Roy’s bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) issued a statement Monday in support of the SAVE Act, ahead of an anticipated vote on the legislation later this week to cement Trump’s Executive Order into law. “American citizens — and only American citizens — should decide American elections. House Republicans are determined to codify this commonsense idea with the SAVE Act which puts in place commonsense safeguards to prevent noncitizens from abusing our democratic process,” Johnson noted.
