State Representative Brian Smith has voiced his dissatisfaction with a recent move by Governor Josh Shapiro concerning registering people to vote automatically.
Earlier this week, Governor Shapiro announced that the state will automatically register residents to vote while they get their state-issued driver’s license or ID card. People do have the opportunity to opt-out of the program, and those who are not eligible to vote for any reason will not be presented with any registration fields or screens during the registration process. Shapiro said that this was one of his campaign planks, and that this move will break down barriers for legal, eligible voters.
Smith has a different opinion on the matter. His concerns include the safety of peoples’ personal information against glitches or hackers, duplicate voter registrations, and how the system will prevent those who are not eligible to vote from registering. He said “The Governor bypassed the General Assembly to put this system in place. We could have done our due diligence in the lawmaking process rather than fumbling through this hasty executive directive.”
