The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was sued twice in the course of one week in two separate actions over the integrity of the state’s voter registration records. Both of the plaintiffs/petitioners, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), are concerned that Pennsylvania’s voter registration records may include residents who are not legally allowed to vote in the Commonwealth. With a few exceptions like military members and citizens living abroad, only U.S. citizens aged 18 or older residing in a PA municipality should be listed on county (& state) voter rolls. Why is there concern that Pennsylvania’s voter lists may not be accurate? Are counties and the Department of State diligently maintaining its records for people who move out of the Commonwealth? Are authorities verifying that anyone registering to vote in PA is actually eligible to vote? Is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its counties being transparent with public records? Let’s see…

In 2017, Al Schmidt was on the Philadelphia election commission when he discovered that non-citizens were registering to vote. How did he discover the problem? Those individuals contacted his office! It wasn’t due to voter roll checks in Philadelphia or at the state level. These people were registering to vote while applying for and renewing drivers’ licenses. As a result, changes were made to the software used by the Department of Transportation so the question, “Are you a U.S. citizen?” is asked prior to the voter registration being submitted. As was reported at the time, Schmidt found that a few dozen ineligible residents in Philadelphia registered to vote using a paper registration form. The Department of State was supposed to look into that issue. But, did they? They don’t seem to want us to know.

Al Schmidt – Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Following the public disclosure by Pennsylvania that it allowed non-U.S. citizens to register to vote, PILF filed a request to review the registration records pursuant to the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) Public Disclosure Provision. PA refused to provide the records to PILF. On February 26, 2018, PILF filed an initial action in federal district court claiming that the Secretary of State violated the NVRA by withholding public records. Although the federal district court ordered the Commonwealth to supply certain public records, upon appeal to the 3rd Circuit the lower court’s order was vacated and ordered dismissed based on standing. During the appellate period, Al Schmidt, who originally brought the issue to light and wanted answers, was named the PA Secretary of State, making him the defendant in the case. In his position as Secretary of State, Schmidt now has the answers, but he doesn’t want anyone else to have them. So, litigation continues. You can’t make this up!

Since the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals refused to allow the full court to hear the appeal, on September 26, 2025 the Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court only accepts 100-150 cases per year for review, it is very possible that the Court will take this case. Several appeals courts in the nation have issued rulings on “standing” that are divergent, causing confusion in the judicial system. This is the perfect reason for the highest court in the land to hear the case and clarify the issue of standing with respect to public records.

After seven years of litigation to receive public records, PILF and the citizens of Pennsylvania must continue to wait for the court to decide if this Commonwealth must reveal the “secret” records. Why won’t Al Schmidt simply release the records? It’s truly absurd!

On September 25, 2025 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Al Schmidt, in his capacity as the Secretary of State of Pennsylvania, for refusing to produce the statewide voter registration records requested in August 2025. The complaint can be seen here.

Earlier in September, we wrote that the DOJ requested statewide voter information and that Secretary Schmidt told the DOJ to download the publicly available data. Drivers’ license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers would not be provided. The DOJ didn’t waste time in suing the Commonwealth!

To ensure that all states, including Pennsylvania, are complying with federal election law, the DOJ is seeking documents to ensure proper voter registration list maintenance is being completed in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Without oversight, how are “we the people” to know if counties and states are actually ensuring the accuracy of voter registration lists? That’s what the DOJ is trying to do, and it’s what Congress expected when the NVRA and HAVA laws were enacted. Why is Pennsylvania fighting oversight of its processes? How are Pennsylvanians to trust our elections when it appears the Commonwealth is hiding something?

Despite the PA Election Code deeming certain information to be public, over the last few years many counties have refused to provide the public with certain election related materials through the PA Right to Know Law.

Currently, there are two such local cases awaiting hearing at the PA Commonwealth Court. In these cases, Chester County denied access to certain records via Right to Know requests. Those decisions were appealed to the PA Office of Open Records (OOR), which ordered the county to produce the records. Chester County appealed those OOR Final Determinations to the Court of Common Pleas, arguing that records should not be provided to the citizens without redactions. When the Court of Common Pleas ruled against Chester County, the county appealed to the PA Commonwealth Court. One of these cases dates back to materials from the 2023 primary election!

Why is Chester County fighting transparency regarding elections? The opposition breeds distrust in the electoral process and invokes additional questions. Clearly they are getting their marching orders from PA Secretary of State Al Schmidt. Will it take seven years of litigation for these records to be released like in the PILF matter? How much is this fight costing the taxpayers of Chester County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?

As the Constitutional Convention ended in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked if the delegates produced a monarchy or a republic. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

We are trying to keep this republic that we love and hold our representatives accountable to the people. Join us in that mission and share this Update with your contacts!