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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said his wife dropped off his ballot for him, which is illegal and punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison

Nov 7, 2021, 22:07 IST
Business Insider
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. Mark Makela/Getty Images
  • In an interview last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said his wife dropped off his Election Day ballot.
  • It is illegal for a person to submit another person's ballot in most circumstances in Pennsylvania.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in an interview last week said his wife dropped off his ballot for him ahead of Election Day, which is illegal and carries possible jail time and a fine.

"I didn't show up in person at the polls. We voted a couple weeks ago, actually," Wolf said during an appearance on the Pittsburgh radio station KDKA, according to a report from Spotlight PA. "My wife actually dropped it off personally two weeks ago, so it's there."

As Spotlight PA reported, Pennsylvania law in most cases prohibits any person from submitting another person's ballot. The act is punishable by up to a year in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000, according to the report. Individuals who live with disabilities are able to designate another person to turn in their ballot, the report said.

A spokesperson for Wolf, a Democrat, told the Harrisburg local news outlet ABC 27 that the incident was an "honest mistake."

"He broke the law. Like, the governor broke the law. And, actually, it was his wife cause she ended up handing the ballot in, and that's the trigger for violating election law. She's the suspect," GOP State Rep. Seth Grove of York County told ABC 27.

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Grove was first to call attention to the interview in a November 4 tweet.

Grove said the move wouldn't have been illegal had Wolf signed HB 1300, a sweeping election reform bill from Republicans that Wolf vetoed earlier this year, calling it "voter suppression."

A spokesperson for the district attorney in York County, where Wolf and his wife reside, declined to tell Spotlight PA if it was investigating the incident or whether it had received any formal complaints about Wolf.

Wolf has been the governor of Pennsylvania since 2015 and won reelection in 2018. He was not on this year's ballot and will not be up for re-election as the state has a two-term limit for the governorship.

In Virginia, the 17-year-old son of Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin made headlines last week after local elections officials in Fairfax County said he tried two times to vote even though he was not old enough to cast a ballot.

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Virginians who are 17 years old are allowed to pre-register to vote and can vote in primary elections if they'll turn 18 by the general election, as Insider previously reported, but they're ineligible to vote in general elections if they're not yet 18 years old.

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