2019 Pennsylvania Marsy's Law Amendment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2019 Pennsylvania Marsy's Law Amendment
November 5, 2019
UNCERTIFIED RESULTS - Marsy's Law Amendment
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 1,765,384 74.01%
No 620,104 25.99%

In 2019, Pennsylvania voters decided on a state-level constitutional amendment to guarantee crime victims more legal rights, in a model named Marsy's Law. Over 74% voted in favor, but following a lawsuit which successfully argued that the amendment contained more than one topic, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania declared that the results could not be certified.

Legislation for Amendment

Senate Bill 1011 (SB 1011) of the 2018 legislative session, and House Bill 276 (HB 276) of the 2019 legislative session placed the amendment on the ballot.[a][2]

2018 session

SB 1011 was first voted on by the state Senate on March 21, 2018, and was agreed to in a unanimous, 50 to 0 vote.[3] However, on June 5, the State House Judiciary Committee voted 26 to 0 to adopt an amendment to the bill, which had been offered by State Rep. Ron Marsico.[4]

On June 20, the state House voted 197 to 0 to approve the bill.[5]

June 20, 2018, vote in the state House[5]
Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Not voting
Democratic Party 79 - 3
Republican Party 118 - 3
Total 197 - 6

As the bill had been amended, it was sent back to the state Senate, where on June 21, it agreed to the new version in a 48 to 0 vote.[6]

June 21, 2018, vote in the state Senate[6]
Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Not voting
Democratic Party 15 - 1
Republican Party 33 - -
Total 48 - 1

2019 session

HB276 was first voted on by the state House on April 8, 2019. This time, however, 8 representatives voted against.[7]

April 8, 2019, vote in the state House[7]
Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Not voting
Democratic Party 84 7 2
Republican Party 106 1 2
Total 190 8 4

In the state Senate, the bill received a vote on June 19, where it was passed unanimously.[8]

June 19, 2019, vote in the state Senate
Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Not voting
Democratic Party 22 - -
Republican Party 28 - -
Total 50 - -

Contents

The following title and question was shown to voters:[9]

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF PENNSYLVANIA

Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to grant certain rights to crime victims, including to be treated with fairness, respect and dignity; considering their safety in bail proceedings; timely notice and opportunity to take part in public proceedings; reasonable protection from the accused; right to refuse discovery requests made by the accused; restitution and return of property; proceedings free from delay; and to be informed of these rights, so they can enforce them?

() YES

() NO

Results

The following table shows the uncertified results by county of the amendment:

County Yes No Citation
# % # %
Adams 11,565 78.76 3,119 21.24 [10]
Allegheny 177,143 69.47 77,863 30.53 [11]
Armstrong 8,204 63.86 4,642 36.14 [12]
Beaver 27,764 79.19 7,295 20.81 [13]
Bedford 6,866 67.11 3,365 32.89 [14]
Berks 56,219 77.18 16,618 22.82 [15]
Blair 16,920 75.77 5,412 24.23 [16]
Bradford 9,434 77.65 2,716 22.35 [17]
Bucks 100,000 75.56 32,343 24.44 [18]
Butler 26,352 72.58 9,956 27.42 [19]
Cambria 24,561 79.19 6,455 20.81 [20]
Cameron 1,200 81.47 273 18.53 [21]
Carbon 10,198 77.83 2,905 22.17 [22]
Centre 19,530 65.7 10,197 34.30 [23]
Chester 89,892 72.97 33,305 27.03 [24]
Clarion 5,386 66.48 2,716 33.52 [25]
Clearfield 11,979 74.85 4,025 25.15 [26]
Clinton 5,023 68.87 2,270 31.13 [27]
Columbia 7,087 73.65 2,536 26.35 [28]
Crawford[b] - - - -
Cumberland 37,116 72.84 13,839 27.16 [29]
Dauphin 34,761 75.48 11,295 24.52 [30]
Delaware 84,376 76.45 25,987 23.55 [31]
Elk 6,234 78.03 1,755 21.97 [32]
Erie 41,328 77.97 11,674 22.03 [33]
Fayette 15,094 77.84 4,298 22.16 [34]
Forest 946 75.56 306 24.44 [35]
Franklin 16,212 72.05 6,288 27.95 [36]
Fulton 1,696 69.11 758 30.89 [37]
Greene 6,834 74.75 2,308 25.25 [38]
Huntingdon 5,404 67.29 2,627 32.71 [39]
Indiana 11,098 69.68 4,828 30.32 [40]
Jefferson 4,544 59.86 3,047 40.14 [41]
Juniata 2,941 68.99 1,322 31.01 [42]
Lackawanna 31,429 75.51 10,195 24.49 [43]
Lancaster 53,849 75.84 17,152 24.16 [44]
Lawrence 14,055 77.76 4,021 22.24 [45]
Lebanon 16,229 73.7 5,790 26.30 [46]
Lehigh 38,694 73.66 13,837 26.34 [47]
Luzerne 34,050 74.43 11,696 25.57 [48]
Lycoming 15,447 66.3 7,850 33.70 [49]
McKean[c] - - - -
Mercer 15,042 74.04 5,275 25.96 [50]
Mifflin 4,735 71.91 1,850 28.09 [51]
Monroe 19,509 82.9 4,025 17.10 [52]
Montgomery 133,224 74.05 46,699 25.95 [53]
Montour 2,419 78.21 674 21.79 [54]
Northampton 36,014 72.35 13,761 27.65 [55]
Northumberland 10,713 75.58 3,462 24.42 [56]
Perry[d] - - - -
Philadelphia 180,019 73.02 66,531 26.98 [57]
Pike 5,867 78.59 1,598 21.41 [58]
Potter 2,815 67.25 1,371 32.75 [59]
Schuylkill 24,012 78.21 6,691 21.79 [60]
Snyder 3,810 64.87 2,063 35.13 [61]
Somerset 14,140 78.17 3,949 21.83 [62]
Sullivan 1,268 72.71 476 27.29 [63]
Susquehanna[e] - - - -
Tioga 5,677 70.29 2,399 29.71 [64]
Union 4,968 64.47 2,738 35.53 [65]
Venango 6,815 70.02 2,918 29.98 [66]
Warren 6,070 72.13 1,640 19.49 [67]
Washington 32,015 73.32 11,651 26.68 [68]
Wayne 8,192 79.63 2,095 20.37 [69]
Westmoreland 55,776 74.07 19,523 25.93 [70]
Wyoming 4,610 72.23 1,772 27.77 [71]
York 50,307 77.73 14,413 22.27 [72]
State total 1,765,384 74.01 620,104 25.99 [73]

Aftermath

References

Notes

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI