Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced that the state will start issuing bonds to provide $90 million in funding for counties to acquire new voting machines before the 2020 presidential election.
The action comes after Gov. Wolf vetoed the voting reform legislation that included the same amount of funding to help counties switch to voting machines with a paper record, which voters can verify. The Governor believes that the legislation, which also included a provision eliminating the straight party ballot voting option, would lead to confusion and delays at the polls.
On Tuesday, the Governor reiterated his commitment to ensuring that Pennsylvania has secure voting machines and maintaining the integrity of every election.
In a statement, Gov. Wolf said, “Pennsylvania counties are well on their way to replacing their voting systems and I applaud their tremendous commitment to protecting our elections. I remain committed to supporting their efforts and this funding will help the counties to complete that process.”
Pennsylvania Department of State is already disbursing fund for new voting machines
The Pennsylvania Economic Financing Authority (PEDFA) will issue bonds. The Department of State will make grants available to counties. In fact, the department already started disbursing $14.15 million, mostly federal funds.
