Pennsylvania To Cross-Check Voter Registrations Against Other States'
By Cherri Gregg
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- The Corbett administration announced this week that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will join two dozen other states in a consortium designed to identify duplicate voter registrations.
"We want to protect the integrity of every vote and we think this is the best way to do that," says Pennsylvania Department of State spokesman Ron Ruman.
He says that beginning in January, the Pennsylvania Department of State will begin to provide data for the Interstate Voter Registration Cross Check Program. The consortium includes 24 states and is run by Kansas for no fee.
So how does it work?
"If someone does move from Pennsylvania to another state in this consortium, we in Pennsylvania will get information that someone with the exact same unique information -- name, date of birth, Social Security number -- is registered to vote in another state."
If Pennsylvania has the earlier registration, elections officials will contact the voter to confirm the new registration from local voting rolls.
Ruman says this process could clear duplicates from rolls in less than a year, while the current process could take up to nine years.
He says the consortium used the cross check program to identify five million duplicates in 22 states in 2012.
