Senator Dawn Keefer said on Apr. 21 that the recent performance audit of Pennsylvania’s Automatic Motor Voter System left important questions unanswered and exposed critical vulnerabilities in the state’s voter registration process.
The issue is significant because it relates to the integrity and security of elections in Pennsylvania, a matter that affects public trust and confidence in democratic processes.
Keefer said she was disappointed that her full request for an audit was not completed after more than 20 months of waiting. She explained, “In August 2024, I formally requested this audit to verify the Motor Voter process complies with state and federal law and safeguards against improper voter registrations.” Keefer stated that she specifically asked for a comparison between PennDOT records of non-citizens holding driver’s licenses or photo IDs and the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE System) to determine if non-citizens were being registered to vote.
She criticized what she described as a lack of cooperation from the administration, which delayed clear answers about how hundreds of thousands of voter registration applications are handled each year. According to Keefer, although the system was implemented in September 2023, the audit only examined data from January through June 2024—covering over 200,000 applications—and found both intended functionality as well as serious flaws. “One significant flaw is the system does not require completion of the INS designation field. As a result, a blank field allows a non-citizen to complete voter registration,” Keefer said. She added that officials acknowledged additional non-citizens may have been registered outside this review window.
The audit also identified insufficient user access controls within PennDOT and the Governor’s Office of Administration; these agencies could not demonstrate who had access to key systems or whether such access was appropriate due to limited record retention policies. Furthermore, some transferred data by vendor-managed applications was labeled as “of undetermined reliability,” raising concerns about report accuracy.
Keefer called for immediate implementation of eight recommendations outlined by Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor aimed at strengthening safeguards and improving coordination between relevant agencies: “A voter registration system at the DMV must never serve as a backdoor for ineligible registrations.”
Former Representative Frank Ryan also commented on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s response to the report: “Gov. Josh Shapiro’s claim of victory on the auditor general’s Motor Voter report is similar to a child telling his or her parents that of all the kids who failed the class, he or she had the highest failing grade.” Ryan argued there should be no assurances regarding election integrity until an independent audit occurs and necessary changes are made.
