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Republican governors and state legislatures are taking action to make elections more safe and secure as the presidential election looms.
Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt announced on Wednesday that more than 450,000 ineligible voters were removed from the state’s rolls since 2021.
The removals came as part of the state’s routine voter roll maintenance which removed voters who have left the state, those who have died and some who are convicted felons.
“Voting is our most sacred duty as Americans— and every Oklahoman wants to know their vote is securely cast and properly counted,” the governor said in a press release. “The State Election Board and the Secretary of State’s office continue to go above and beyond in their responsibility to ensure only eligible Oklahomans can vote in our elections. Their progress reassures me we will continue to lead the nation in election integrity efforts.”
“Through close collaboration with the Governor’s Office, the State Election Board, and our colleagues in the Legislature, Oklahoma has fortified our electoral process,” Secretary of State Josh Cockroft said in the press release. “We’ve aggressively pursued policies to ensure voting is secure and accurate, and we’re innovating to protect our elections from emerging technology like AI. In Oklahoma, every eligible citizen will have their vote counted and their voice heard.”
In 2023 the governor formed the Campaign Finance and Election Threats Task Force to examine the electoral process, scrutinize foreign investments in campaigns and ensure the safety of elections in the state.
The committee has recommended mandatory audits after each election and banning ranked-choice voting
“Oklahoma has a long tradition of doing elections right,” Secretary of the State Election Board Paul Ziriax said. “Recounts and post-election audits have consistently proven the accuracy of Oklahoma’s voting system, and our laws and procedures are designed to ensure the integrity and security of our elections.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday reversed a lower court ruling and found that mail-in ballots with incorrect dates or without any dates on the exterior of the envelope cannot be counted, a huge win for election integrity advocates.
In a 4-3 decision, the state’s high court ruled on procedural grounds, stating that the lower court, which deemed the mandate unenforceable, should not have heard the case because it did not involve election boards from all 67 counties, The Associated Press reported. In Pennsylvania, counties handle the administration of elections, but the left-leaning groups that filed the case had only sued two counties—Philadelphia and Allegheny.
Two weeks ago, the Commonwealth Court had halted the enforcement of handwritten dates on exterior envelopes. The Supreme Court’s reversal of this decision now raises the possibility that thousands of ballots arriving on time could be discarded in a crucial swing state, potentially impacting the outcome of a closely contested presidential race. Many more Democrats vote by mail in the battleground state than do Republicans.
But Republican groups who appealed the decision applauded it as a big win for honesty in elections and a huge break for former President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost Pennsylvania to Joe Biden in 2020.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, in a release, called it a major victory for election integrity “that will protect commonsense mail ballot safeguards and help voters cast their ballots with confidence.”
Attorneys representing the ten left-wing ‘community’ organizations that filed the lawsuit stated that the decision left the door open for further litigation on the issue.
“Thousands of voters are at risk of having their ballots rejected in November for making a meaningless mistake,” said Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia. She urged voters to “carefully read and follow the instructions for submitting a mail-in ballot to reduce the number of ballots being rejected for trivial paperwork errors.”
Two Democratic appointees joined both Republican appointees on the Supreme Court in the ruling.