In the near future, I intend to reintroduce legislation that would amend the Pennsylvania Election Code to require any election to fill a vacant seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives or Senate be held in conjunction with the next regularly scheduled primary or general election.
 
Pennsylvania currently holds more special elections for legislative vacancies than any other state. Since 2017, the Commonwealth has conducted 47 special elections to fill vacant seats, many of which occurred on dates separate from regularly scheduled elections.
 
Special elections often experience significantly lower voter participation than regularly scheduled elections. Holding these elections on stand-alone dates leads to reduced engagement from voters and diminished representation in the electoral process. These elections can also be costly. According to reports on state election administration, 22 special legislative elections held outside regular election days since 2017 have cost taxpayers more than $4.4 million, with counties often bearing additional unreimbursed expenses.
 
In addition to the financial burden, special elections place significant administrative strain on county election officials. Counties must complete the same preparation required for any election, including testing voting machines, printing pollbooks, securing polling locations, and distributing mail ballots, often with little downtime between elections. When these elections occur shortly before regularly scheduled elections, county staff and poll workers may have little opportunity to recover before administering the next statewide election.
 
Aligning vacancy elections with already scheduled primary or general elections would reduce unnecessary costs, allow taxpayer dollars to be used more efficiently, and increase voter participation. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this legislation.