“Despite Republican’s historical attempts to suppress the vote through unfounded voter ID laws, Democrats are led by the value that everyone’s voice deserves to be heard in an election,” said Marcel L. Groen, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “The Wolf administration’s online voter registration system is an undeniable success, bringing more than one-hundred thousand Pennsylvanians into the democratic process. That’s a positive development for anyone who believes in a government of, by and for the people.”
PoliticsPA: Online Voter Registration Passes Paper Applications
By Jason Addy – March 8, 2016
Pennsylvania’s new online voter registration system is quickly becoming a success, with more eligible voters now going online than filling out paperwork to register or update their information.
85,000 new voters have used the online system since Jan. 1, while just 68,000 have done it the old-fashioned way, Secretary of State Pedro A. Cortes announced Tuesday.
More than 142,000 have registered online since the system went live on Aug. 27, Department of State numbers show.
Secretary Cortes said he expects the gap between online and paper registrations to widen thanks to the online system’s “convenience and accessibility.”
Eligible voters must register before March 28 to be able to vote in PA’s April 26 primaries, and Cortes is reminding Pennsylvanians they can do it by simply visiting register.votesPA.com.
The Department of State is touting the online system’s increased security and cost reduction – a 2015 Pew Charitable Trust report found savings of $.50 to $2.34 for each electronic application compared to paper.
“The online option greatly increases accuracy of the voter rolls, which is valuable during a busy presidential election year,” Cortes said.
“Pennsylvania’s counties are already seeing cost savings because there is less need for data entry from paper applications.”