Five Pennsylvania congressmen have asked a federal court to make the state verify the eligibility of voters casting ballots from outside the country.
The case was filed this week in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of Republican Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Meuser, Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, Lloyd Smucker, and Mike Kelly against the Pennsylvania Department of State, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, and Jonathan Marks, deputy secretary for elections and commissions for Pennsylvania.
The federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) allows members of the military and nonmilitary U.S. citizens abroad to receive a ballot and vote from anywhere in the world.
UOCAVA voters can download the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) from the internet and use it as a voter registration form and as a ballot request. The FPCA asks for a Social Security number and a state-issued driver’s license or identification number. This information is matched with state information to verify a voter is a real person.
But a directive from the Pennsylvania Department of State tells counties they cannot reject voter registrations from UOCAVA voters just because the numbers they provide on their application don’t match state database numbers. The state tells counties they “must” accept UOCAVA applications, even if the driver’s license or last four of the Social Security number cannot be matched.
Without verifying voter data, the state could potentially mail ballots out to fake people or to those ineligible to vote. The policy creates a vulnerability
