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Pa. Senate panel hears about use of voter data

Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette

Pa. Senate panel hears about use of voter data

HARRISBURG — A dispute between Republican senators and the Shapiro administration over verifying voter registration information played out Wednesday at a Senate committee hearing.

The GOP-controlled Intergovernmental Affairs Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Al Schmidt and Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll at the hearing concerning “data sharing practices” between those two agencies and third parties.

The sole focus was on Pennsylvania’s involvement with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), the multi-state partnership to help verify voter registration rolls and prevent improper vote casting, and the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), a private nonprofit.

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In the weeks leading to this hearing, Committee Majority Chair Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh, raised questions about the state sharing data with CEIR legally under the federal Driver Privacy Act. Mr. Schmidt announced that Pennsylvania would end the practice of sharing data with non-government third parties which he reviewed after taking office earlier this year.

“I thought it was prudent to make clear we are not going to share information with third parties,” said Mr. Schmidt Wednesday. “I really didn’t see any point in doing it.”

On the broader question of how best to make sure Pennsylvania’s registered voter rolls are accurate, the issue raised in several exchanges is whether Pennsylvania should remain in ERIC or leave it like Florida, Ohio and other states have done.

Sen. Cris Dush, R-Venango, who chairs the State Government Committee, urged that Pennsylvania leave ERIC. He has mentioned ERIC’s voter registration efforts and data security concerns for his reasons.

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Mr. Dush is sponsor of Senate Bill 125 to help remove Pennsylvania from ERIC. The GOP-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee approved SB125 last June by a 15-9 party-line vote.

Mr. Dush chaired a hearing of his committee last week featuring testimony of officials from Florida and Ohio.

Mr. Schmidt said sharing voter information in one ERIC repository with nearly half of the states participating is more secure than signing memos with individual states for that purpose. Going the latter route will lead to more false matches of data and, thus more lawsuits, he added.

Since 2020, information from ERIC has led to the removal by county election boards of 130,371 duplicate records or records of voters who have moved out of Pennsylvania, said Mr. Schmidt.

Mr. Coleman said he’s concerned that personal identifiable information on driver’s licenses for millions of Pennsylvanians is being shared to resolve far fewer voter registration issues.

Mr. Schmidt said the data sent to ERIC contains only names and addresses of Pennsylvania residents who fit certain categories in a format that prevents disclosure of personal identifying information, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.

Committee Minority Chair Christine Tartaglione, D-Philadelphia, said the federal driver privacy law provides exceptions for data shared to help government agencies to carry out their functions.

PennDOT’s Mr. Carroll said his agency is obligated under that law to help the Department of State carry out its function.

“Pennsylvania’s restricted data sharing with the Department of State, for example, is vital to the voter registration process that is required under the law,” wrote Mr. Carroll in testimony.

First Published: October 26, 2023, 6:31 p.m.

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