The Democracy Defense Project Pennsylvania (DDP) board has released the following statement regarding President Trump’s March 31 executive order: 

Pennsylvanians deserve a safe and secure election process in which participation is reserved exclusively for United States citizens who are also residents of the commonwealth.

The board of the DDP in Pennsylvania has been working with our county and state election officials to understand the practicalities and challenges of the election process here. We agree that the states have been appropriately entrusted, under the U.S. Constitution and federal law, with administering elections. The states in turn entrust this process to counties, which must be given the most accurate and up-to-date resources to be sure that only eligible citizens vote. 

Through our county visits and other research, we have seen firsthand that Pennsylvania’s state and local election officials are quite capable of managing and administering our elections pursuant to U.S. and PA laws. 

Though these laws can always be improved, we do not believe that the President of the United States has the constitutional authority to impose the sweeping election reforms that he has recently demanded via his executive order. 

Both the PA General Assembly and the U.S. Congress are within their authority to amend state and federal election laws. We encourage them to improve and update the laws and to provide more ready resources for our counties to improve clarity and uniformity to the enforcement of voter requirements in our elections. 

Democracy Defense Project Pennsylvania works to defend the transparency, safety, security and validity of Pennsylvania’s elections system. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, former United States Reps. Jim Gerlach and Melissa Hart, and former Pennsylvania House Speaker Keith McCall serve as board members.

Democracy Defense Project Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, PA