Young condemns H.B. 1300 as ‘Voting Rights Suppression Act’

HARRISBURG, June 16 – State Rep. Regina G. Young, D-Phila., in a statement today, condemned H.B. 1300, a 150-page bill that would alter voting deadlines, limit early voting, make mail-in ballot procedures more difficult and mandate IDs for all in-person voters, saying that it as assault on voting rights.

“House Bill 1300 is 150 pages of drivel and lies outfitted as policy. Its author and supporters have dubbed it with a virtuous name, the Voting Rights Protection Act, but whose voting rights is it really protecting?” Young said, a day after voting no on the bill’s passage in the House State Government Committee.

“House Bill 1300 is really the Voting Rights Suppression Act. It only stands to create obstacles in exercising the right to vote. Measures such as stricter voter ID mandates, signature verification requirements for mail ballots, and limiting the availability of drop boxes, are all attempts to deter people from voting and suppress votes.

“Another issue with this bill is that it offers no solutions to streamlining the elections process. For months, Republican and Democratic election officials from across the state urged the legislature to revamp our elections code to allow the elections process to run smoother. One unanimous plea was to enact the pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots, a measure the majority party in the committee said they would review. However, the best they could come up with is H.B. 1300—a slap in the face to these election officials who worked long hours around the clock to ensure Pennsylvanians had their voices heard and an ultimate slap to those who fought, shed blood, and even became martyrs, to protect our most scared fundamental right.

“The taxpayer funded time and resources should be spent bringing our state’s voting process to the 21st century by bolstering accessibility and modernizing the ballot counting process, but the only thing being modernized are these voter suppression tactics.”