Restricting Ballot Questions In PA: New Bill Proposed

ABINGTON, PA — A state legislator is proposing to change the way ballot questions are put to voters in Pennsylvania.

State Rep. Benjamin Sanchez, D-153, announced that he is introducing legislation to limit the submission of all future ballot questions to voters to general elections only during presidential and gubernatorial election cycles, which is when voter turnout is often the highest.

The proposal would amend the Pennsylvania Election Code to require that such ballot questions be submitted to voters every two years when either the governor or U.S. president is up for election/re-election, according to the legislator's office.

"Under our current system, often only a small percentage of voters make their voices heard in altering our state's most fundamental document, its constitution," Sanchez said in a statement. "When the highest profile national and statewide elections take place, more people vote, and these fundamentally important ballot questions will be vetted by the broadest possible electorate."

Sanchez went on to say that democracy always works better when more people are included in the decision-making process, and that his proposal "brings better transparency to the process and will help ensure that the voices of more Pennsylvanians will be heard when it comes to constitutional changes that affect us all."

The proposed measure comes on the heels of Pennsylvania voters approving a recent constitutional change that has to do with the way statewide emergencies are handled.

Voters during the past May primary election approved two state constitutional amendments that limit the governor's emergency powers. Pennsylvania became the first state to enact such a change in its state constitution.

The changes were approved during a primary, not general, election.

The first amendment allows the state legislature to terminate a governor's emergency disaster declaration with a simple majority vote; previously a two-thirds vote was required.

The second amendment limits a governor's disaster declaration to 21 days, with a requirement that the legislature OKs any extension past that timeframe.

Many believe that the move to amend the constitution this way came as pushback against unilateral moves by the state's current governor, Tom Wolf, to shut down businesses, institute crowd size limits, and issue stay-at-home orders during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Republican-controlled state legislature, which was at odds with Wolf over the emergency measures, was mostly supportive of the move to amend the constitution so that future governors wouldn't have the ability to make similar decisions alone.

In a May Associated Press article, the state's Republican Party chairman, Lawrence Tabas, was quoted as saying Pennsylvanians, through their approval of the constitutional amendments, voted to "put a stop to Gov. Tom Wolf's dictatorship."