In another attempt to enhance “integrity” in the electoral process in Pennsylvania, state Sen. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson) hopes to introduce legislation that increases eligibility requirements for voter registration.
Dush, who serves as the chair of the Senate State Government Committee, was one of 26 Pennsylvania House Republicans who called for withdrawing certification of presidential electors. He has also sponsored bills proposing an amendment to the state Constitution to require additional election audits, as well as eliminating no-excuse mail voting.
Presently, to qualify as an elector in Pennsylvania, one must meet three basic conditions: at least 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least one month, and lived within the Keystone State a minimum of 90 days and within your voting district for at least 30 of those.
Dush aims to add mental competency to the conditions, as well as what is called ‘exclusive registration.’
Pennsylvania has no voting competency laws on the books that could affect an individual’s right to vote. Election officials and poll workers, therefore, cannot question the ability of a voter with an intellectual disability, mental illness, brain injury, dementia, or other cognitive limits and certainly may not bar them from exercising their right to vote.
Dush’s legislation would bar those deemed mentally incompetent by courts from voting. The courts would notify election officials so they could cancel the voter’s registration.. Thirty-four states already have this provision in place.
He has also been a critic of the state’s involvement with the Electronic Registration and Information Center (ERIC) that was designed to help participating states in maintaining accurate voter rolls.
With that in mind, Dush also is calling for those moving to the state to ‘exclusively register’ or re-register with the Commonwealth, rather than states sharing information.
“Making voter registration contingent on revoking or disclaiming any prior registrations can help reduce duplicate registrations,” he said, claiming there were as many as 80,000 duplicate voter registrations in the state.
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11 Responses
Is this the same Senator who said the farms should have free labor – perhaps bring back slavery? This Senator needs to be defeated and he should definitely have mental competency test? Another crazy Trumper!
All these fools elected at all levels of government need REMOVED. It all started with the TEA Party nonsense when idiots were told they should run for office at all levels. This led to unqualified people running at all levels under the “I’m not a politician” banner. That’s led to chaos with school boards, county commissioner boards, state legislatures and Congress. Give me a politician who knows how to govern over idiot Dush-Bag and Ding Dong Dougie.
Dush wants a Mental Competency voter test?? LOLOL!! He’d be the FIRST one to be dsiqualified! Along with All Trump voters. What a maroon! Thanks for the laugh, Sy!
Trying to dismantle democracy one step at a time.
In other words:
“Down the line, we’re really like to be able to consider LGBTQIA+ people as mentally ill so we can exclude them from voting.”
This is another sad attempt at voter suppression by Senator Dush. I’m a poll worker but not qualified to judge a citizen’s mental competence. So who gets to decide and based on what criteria? Finally, 2022 PA notified 2,700 voters of potential duplicate registration errors. Far, far below the numbers Senator Dush claims exist in the Commonwealth.
Read the article again (or perhaps for the first time). It says that courts determine if people are mentally competent and that most of the country already does this.
“most of the country already does this.” Is there a handy list of the 34
states that Dush claims are doing this” TX, AL,MS, FL. . . how am I doing?
Since when are the courts the arbiter of mental competency? Based on what guidelines? This is a slippery slope.
GIVE THEM AN INCH AND THEY WILL TAKE A MILE !!!!
“We need to withdraw from the system that helps us detect duplicate registrations! Now…….what’re we gonna do about these 80,000 duplicate registrations?”