Another day. Another attempt to alter Act 77.

Sen. Pat Stefano (R-Fayette) is looking for co-sponsors to legislation that would repeal the annual mail-in voter list portion of the bipartisan bill.

After voting “yes” on the measure back in 2019, Stefano says he’s looking “to restore voter confidence in our election process.”

The law in question reads:

(g)  Permanent mail-in voting list.–

(1)  Any qualified registered elector may request to be placed on a permanent mail-in ballot list file. A mail-in ballot application shall be mailed to every person otherwise eligible to receive a mail-in ballot application by the first Monday in February each year, so long as the person does not lose the person’s voting rights by failure to vote as otherwise required by this act. A mail-in ballot application mailed to a voter under this section, which is completed and timely returned by the voter, shall serve as an application for any and all primary, general or special elections to be held in the remainder of that calendar year and for all special elections to be held before the third Monday in February of the succeeding year.

(2)  The Secretary of the Commonwealth may develop an electronic system through which all qualified electors may apply for a mail-in ballot and request permanent mail-in voter status under this section, provided the system is able to capture a digitized or electronic signature of the applicant. A county board of elections shall treat an application or request received through the electronic system as if the application or request had been submitted on a paper form or any other format used by the county.

His legislation would repeal the above sections of Act 77 and also stipulate that only the Pennsylvania Department of State may send applications for mail-in ballots to eligible voters in our Commonwealth.

County election officials have repeatedly requested that the Department of State assist in the latter, as political parties and get-out-the-vote groups have inundated voters with multiple application forms, much to their disgust.

It is also noteworthy that Republicans have been critical of no-excuse, mail-in voting since the loss by former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden in 2020 and Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers have made regular proposals to alter the law, citing “restoring faith in elections.”