Pennsylvania lawmakers sound alarm on double voting as they urge Gov. Shapiro to take action

(The Center Square) – Casting ballots in two different states carries a felony conviction, but lawmakers in Pennsylvania say few voters know about the consequences.

And while the crime is “rare,” according to the Department of State, it still happens.

Rep. Jamie Flick, R-Williamsport, said Tuesday he’s compiled data that confirms “various instances” of voters casting ballots in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“This report involves millions of voting records, and analyzing this data takes time to ensure accuracy,” said Flick, who describes himself as a software engineer and data analyst by trade.

“From where we stand today, we can confirm that double voting occurred in previous national elections, but we are committed to thoroughly finalizing this report.”

The Center Square’s attempt to contact Flick’s office for a copy of the findings was unsuccesful, though the legislator himself said the data is publicly available, albeit hard to parse.

“The findings underscore the need for voter identification on a national level, and we should begin by strengthening these measures right here at home,” Flick said.

Republican Leader Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Quarryville, joined Flick and other House colleagues to promote a memorandum of understanding between the Shapiro administration to share voter registration and participation data with the public more clearly as part of an awareness campaign.

“Given recent news, it is clear Pennsylvanians need to be better informed about double voting, its legal consequences, and what to do to ensure they are casting only one ballot in each election,” he said.

Matt Heckel, spokesman for the Department of State, told The Center Square on Thursday that Pennsylvania’s 67 counties maintain voter rolls and do so well.

“Double voting is a crime and is extremely rare,” he said.

“The Department takes any instances of this rare occurrence very seriously and assists in referring to the appropriate investigatory agencies.”

And while Heckel didn’t comment specifically on the awareness campaign, he said Pennsylvania works with other states enrolled in the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, to compare voter rolls to prevent duplicate ballot casting.

“The Department believes strongly in the value of the data we receive through ERIC because the method of securely sharing information involves the ability to identify potential duplicates with more reliability than information based solely on public records,” he said.

Ohio withdrew from the database in 2023 amid concerns from Republican legislators that the nonprofit organization had become politicized as a voter registration tool, rather than fraud prevention.

Other states – including Florida, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Virginia – have also walked away from the database in recent years.

ERIC compares personal data collected by the Social Security Administration and U.S. Postal Service to track where residents are registered and eligible to vote.

As of 2024, 24 states and the District of Columbia work with the organization, using the data to remove deceased voters from the rolls and send registration information to eligible voters.

Member states pay a one-time fee of $25,000 to join the organization and owe annual dues commensurate with the size of their voting-age population, ranging from $37,000 to $174,000.

Republican legislators in Pennsylvania, too, cast doubts about the state’s efforts to prevent double voting, noting that only half of eligible voters in America are tracked by ERIC.

Flick said compiling Pennsylvania’s data is also complex and tedious: each county provides voter information in a different format.

During an analysis of 13 counties, Flick said he had to string together full names and birthdays to identify errors in the rolls.

Ohio’s 88 counties all submit data in the same format, Flick added.

He noted that a national database with uniform formatting would make fraud detection simpler and improve voter confidence.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, described the issue as avoidable because there’s a bipartisan appetite to fix it.

He urged Gov. Josh Shapiro to use executive action to tighten the system further.

“Ensuring our voter rolls are valid and informing voters about the penalties for double voting are not partisan requests and should be addressed by the governor immediately,” he said.

Shapiro enacted automatic voter registration in September, a move that irked Republican lawmakers as improper.

Recent legal action from the state Supreme Court said automatic registration beyond a driver’s license update is questionable.