Early voting in, voter ID out as Democrats advance sweeping election bill

HARRISBURG — A sweeping bill to overhaul the commonwealth’s election laws has passed the Pennsylvania House. Its changes would include creating in-person early voting, giving counties more time to process mail ballots, and requiring counties to use mail ballot drop boxes.

But it doesn’t include one provision that will likely be important to its prospects: a voter ID requirement, something that Republicans, who control the state Senate, have always seen as crucial to any election law deal.

State House leaders in both parties have lately said they are open to a voter ID requirement after years of partisan fights. The chamber even advanced a standalone bill, sponsored by two swing-district lawmakers, that would create a lenient voter ID requirement for all in-person voters.

However, a top state House Democrat said that bill was pulled from this week’s voting calendar because some Republicans in the chamber weren't going to vote for it. Given the limited House Democratic support, the proposal would have been short of the 102 votes needed for final passage.


https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/05/voting-election-reform-legislation-voter-identification-mail-ballot-pennsylvania/