Pennsylvania is sued twice over voter records
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 eighteen or older residing in a Pennsylvania municipality should be listed on county voter rolls.
These legal actions raise some questions: 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? Are the state and local governments being transparent with public records?
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.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) v. Al Schmidt
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 — that is, whether the party suing has the legal right to bring a claim in court, not whether the merits of that claim are valid.
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, he now has the answers, but Schmidt 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.
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 them. Why won’t Al Schmidt simply release the records? It’s truly absurd!
DOJ v. PA
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, the DOJ requested statewide voter information and Secretary Schmidt told the DOJ to simply 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 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 if the Commonwealth hides the data?
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 in 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. 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?
Counties are fighting citizens looking for transparency when they litigate the release of election records deemed public by the PA Election Code. The Commonwealth is fighting transparency by litigating the release of voter registration maintenance records which are part of the Public Disclosure Provisions of the NVRA and by not releasing complete voter registration records to the Department of Justice as required under provisions of the NVRA.
If the people of the Commonwealth, non-profits, and the Department of Justice can’t get answers regarding the elections in Pennsylvania and must litigate for potentially years to try to obtain it, then every citizen should be concerned about the integrity of our elections and the leadership of our Commonwealth. We must demand better! For if the leaders of this Commonwealth are not held accountable to the rule of law and to the people, then we are truly living in a tyranny.
Felice Fein is the Executive Director for Keystone Fair Business Partners and a member of PA GOP State Committee and the Chester County Republican Committee.
