Official makes abrupt exit
HARRISBURG — State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe doesn't know if questions he first raised last year about noncitizen voter registration are part of the reason Secretary of State Pedro Cortes abruptly resigned Wednesday, but he said they still remain unanswered.
Metcalfe, R-12th, first started talking about the issue last year. But last week he revived it in a big way when he and more than a dozen colleagues demanded answers from Cortes about allegations of illegal voting and non-citizen voter registration in Pennsylvania.
Cortes, who had served as the state's top election official since 2015, abruptly resigned on Wednesday. The office of Gov. Tom Wolf said interim Secretary of State Robert Torres would step into the role but hasn't explained why Cortes, who also served as the state's top election official from 2003 to 2010 under Gov. Ed Rendell, stepped down.
Cortes' departure comes several weeks after his department was criticized for a glitch officials say might have allowed thousands of ineligible immigrants to cast ballots statewide.
The resignation also comes just one week after Metcalfe, who is the chairman of the House's State Government Committee, and 15 of his colleagues sent Cortes a letter expressing “dire concerns” about the glitch, which appears to be tied to driver's license renewals at PennDOT service centers.
Metcalfe has been raising questions about the issue since last year, when he questioned Cortes during an appropriations hearing in his committee. He said he doesn't expect Cortes' departure on Wednesday to affect the State Department's ability to respond to his inquiry.
“I think we should have answers this week,” Metcalfe said, “based on the questions that we asked and the information that's at the fingertips of the department.”
Metcalfe urged the department to take “immediate action to resolve this issue,” and said they should begin by contacting every county in the state and providing guidance on how the ineligible voters can be purged from voting rolls.
The legislator also wants the state to review its policies and procedures for driver's license renewals for foreign nationals who are legally residing in Pennsylvania. He believes changing the procedures used at PennDOT driver's license centers can help stop improper voter registrations.
“They're being asked questions that only citizens should be asked,” Metcalfe said. “We can fix the large majority of this problem at the source. They should not be asked whether they want to register to vote, because they're not a citizen and aren't eligible to vote.”
