HARRISBURG – Legislation has been proposed which would require the PA Department of State or DOS to display the number of precincts reporting on election night results, as was done years ago. Bill sponsor, Rep. Brad Roae of Crawford & Erie Counties said up until five years ago, the DOS website would show numbers like 500 out of 5,000 precincts reporting which created transparency and allowed the public to evaluate whether the outcome was still in question. Knowing the differential in the number of votes received means nothing unless you have a general idea of how many votes are left to count. The Department of State already has the information, but officials refuse to release it to the public. House Bill 2542 would require DOS to include on its website the number of precincts reporting and the total number of precincts in its preliminary election results in each race. The bill has been referred to the PA House State Government Committee for consideration.
REP. BRAD ROAE