Book 1.indb


Commonwealth Forum: Should Pennsylvania Adopt 

Early Voting?

YES

Pennsylvania has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. 
Voters must register at least one month in advance of a primary or general 
election. In addition, voters must register with a party in order to participate 
in primaries. Voting takes place during a thirteen-hour window for one day 
each spring and fall and must be done at the voter’s assigned precinct. If a 
citizen wants to cast a vote but cannot do so in person, an absentee ballot 
requires an excuse. Such restrictions are clearly the result of lawmakers look-
ing to make voting harder and constrict the size of the electorate.

Just thirteen states have such obstructive barriers in place to keep voters 
from the polls. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia allow voters 
to cast ballots earlier, either through the mail or at designated early voting 
places. Some states even allow voters to permanently add themselves to an 
absentee voter list, where ballots are then mailed every election, no excuse 
required. Three states mail ballots to every eligible voter, making voting as 
easy as filling out a form and dropping it in the mail whenever it is conve-
nient.

The average time for early voting before an election is twenty-two days. 
This gives citizens plenty of time to cast their votes without the demands of 
work, family, school, or unpredictable matters in life preventing the exercise 
of a fundamental right. But access to early voting is about a lot more than 
making voting more convenient. Early voting gives those with less flexible 
schedules, generally people working hourly jobs for less pay, and those with 
less reliable transportation, generally the poor, greater ability to participate 
in democracy and have their voices heard. Lawmakers in Pennsylvania 
should enact early voting out of a concern for better democratic representa-
tion and stop fearing the results.



NO
The 2016 presidential election was held on November 8. If you lived in Min-
nesota, New Jersey, South Dakota, or Vermont, you could have voted before 
any of the three presidential debates between Donald Trump and Hillary 
Clinton. These four states allow early voting at least forty-five days before an 
election. Imagine that. People could actually cast votes before being able to 
compare the candidates’ ideas and temperaments in the highest pressure 
political events of the election season. For all of the other states that allow 
early voting, think of what else might happen after a person casts her vote. 
Candidates might be accused of crimes or could cast objectionable votes as 
public officials, or a new crisis might occur without the voter knowing how 
the candidates would react.

Early voting also allows special interests to use their deep pockets to 
influence elections. Publicly available lists of people who have not yet voted 
can be used to mobilize people beholden to the cause of single-issue groups. 
Remember, when they canvas people to get out the vote, it is not an effort to 
encourage everyone to exercise their right to the franchise. It is an attempt 
to get voters to support their cause.

Finally, there is no definitive evidence that early voting actually increases 
turnout. Given all of these drawbacks, why not stick with Pennsylvania’s 
current system? Let’s have a period of debate and discussion about candi-
dates and then all vote on the same day with the same information.

For More Information
The early voting information center (https:// blogs .reed .edu/ earlyvoting) 

is a nonpartisan research center located at Reed College in Portland, 
Oregon. They conduct research on early voting and election reform.

The league of women voters (https:// www .lwv .org) is a nonpartisan orga-
nization that provides information on registering to vote, where to vote, 
and ballot information.

The pennsylvania Department of state (https:// www .dos .pa .gov) allows 
citizens of Pennsylvania to register online, check their voter registration 
status, and find polling places, and provides much more information 
about elections.

The u.s. vote foundation (https:// www .usvotefoundation .org) aims to pro-
vide citizens with easy access to voting information and laws in their 
respective states.

From Pennsylvania Politics and Policy: A Commonwealth Reader, Volume 2. Edited by 
Michelle J. Atherton and J. Wesley Leckrone (Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 
2019).