WAYNE and PIKE COUNTIES, PA — In his first official act, PA Rep. Jeff Olsommer (R, PA-139) signed a discharge resolution to advance a voter ID bill.

Olsommer represents Pike and Wayne counties. He was sworn in on May 21, after winning a special election to replace Republican Joe Adams. 

House Bill 891 would allow voters to decide if the Pennsylvania Constitution should be amended to require identification each time someone exercises their right to vote. Currently, identification is required only the first time you vote in a new location. 

A discharge petition brings a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration before the committee has a chance to report on it. “Discharging” the committee from further consideration of a bill allows the full legislative body to consider it directly.

One hundred Republicans and one Democrat signed to discharge the House State Government Committee from considering the bill.

“I’m proud to add my signature to this petition and stand with my colleagues to get this issue before the voters,” Olsommer said. “Trust in our election system is vital to the integrity of the process. It’s time we deliver this commonsense reform to Pennsylvanians.”

Olsommer said the legislation has sat in committee for almost a year. “And that is despite multiple polls confirming that requiring identification to vote at each and every election is supported on a broad, bipartisan basis.”

According to House operating rules, 25 members from each caucus must sign the petition, regardless of the total number of signees.

Voter ID laws are controversial. The League of Women Voters, the Brennan Center for Justice, and the American Civil Liberties Union are among the groups that oppose them.

“While supporters argue that voter photo ID laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud and ensure the integrity of elections, reality tells a different story,” says a statement from the League of Women Voters. “Not only do these measures disproportionately impact Black, Native, elderly, and student voters, but they also fail to effectively address any real issues related to election integrity—the very thing advocates say these measures are designed to do.”

Olsommer recently won a special election against Democrat Robin Schooley Skibber to fill a vacancy left by Republican Joe Adams. He faces Skibber again in the general election this November.