2019 Pennsylvania Marsy's Law Amendment

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.

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%
Yes   80–90%   70–80%   60–70%   50–60% Data unavailable

Background

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 vote	No vote	Yes %	No %
Adams	11,565	3,119	78.76	21.24 [10]
Allegheny	177,143	77,863	69.47	30.53 [11]
Armstrong	8,204	4,642	63.86	36.14 [12]
Beaver	27,764	7,295	79.19	20.81 [13]
Bedford	6,866	3,365	67.11	32.89 [14]
Berks	56,219	16,618	77.18	22.82 [15]
Blair	16,920	5,412	75.77	24.23 [16]
Bradford	9,434	2,716	77.65	22.35 [17]
Bucks	100,000	32,343	75.56	24.44 [18]
Butler	26,352	9,956	72.58	27.42 [19]
Cambria	24,561	6,455	79.19	20.81 [20]
Cameron	1,200	273	81.47	18.53 [21]
Carbon	10,198	2,905	77.83	22.17 [22]
Centre	19,530	10,197	65.70	34.30 [23]
Chester	89,892	33,305	72.97	27.03 [24]
Clarion	5,386	2,716	66.48	33.52 [25]
Clearfield	11,979	4,025	74.85	25.15 [26]
Clinton	5,023	2,270	68.87	31.13 [27]
Columbia	7,087	2,536	73.65	26.35 [28]
Crawford [b]	-	-	-	-
Cumberland	37,116	13,839	72.84	27.16 [29]
Dauphin	34,761	11,295	75.48	24.52 [30]
Delaware	84,376	25,987	76.45	23.55 [31]
Elk	6,234	1,755	78.03	21.97 [32]
Erie	41,328	11,674	77.97	22.03 [33]
Fayette	15,094	4,298	77.84	22.16 [34]
Forest	946	306	75.56	24.44 [35]
Franklin	16,212	6,288	72.05	27.95 [36]
Fulton	1,696	758	69.11	30.89 [37]
Greene	6,834	2,308	74.75	25.25 [38]
Huntingdon	5,404	2,627	67.29	32.71 [39]
Indiana	11,098	4,828	69.68	30.32 [40]
Jefferson	4,544	3,047	59.86	40.14 [41]
Juniata	2,941	1,322	68.99	31.01 [42]
Lackawanna	31,429	10,195	75.51	24.49 [43]
Lancaster	53,849	17,152	75.84	24.16 [44]
Lawrence	14,055	4,021	77.76	22.24 [45]
Lebanon	16,229	5,790	73.70	26.30 [46]
Lehigh	38,694	13,837	73.66	26.34 [47]
Luzerne	34,050	11,696	74.43	25.57 [48]
Lycoming	15,447	7,850	66.30	33.70 [49]
McKean [c]	-	-	-	-
Mercer	15,042	5,275	74.04	25.96 [50]
Mifflin	4,735	1,850	71.91	28.09 [51]
Monroe	19,509	4,025	82.90	17.10 [52]
Montgomery	133,224	46,699	74.05	25.95 [53]
Montour	2,419	674	78.21	21.79 [54]
Northampton	36,014	13,761	72.35	27.65 [55]
Northumberland	10,713	3,462	75.58	24.42 [56]
Perry [d]	-	-	-	-
Philadelphia	180,019	66,531	73.02	26.98 [57]
Pike	5,867	1,598	78.59	21.41 [58]
Potter	2,815	1,371	67.25	32.75 [59]
Schuylkill	24,012	6,691	78.21	21.79 [60]
Snyder	3,810	2,063	64.87	35.13 [61]
Somerset	14,140	3,949	78.17	21.83 [62]
Sullivan	1,268	476	72.71	27.29 [63]
Susquehanna [e]	-	-	-	-
Tioga	5,677	2,399	70.29	29.71 [64]
Union	4,968	2,738	64.47	35.53 [65]
Venango	6,815	2,918	70.02	29.98 [66]
Warren [f]	-	-	-	-
Washington	32,015	11,651	73.32	26.68 [67]
Wayne	8,192	2,095	79.63	20.37 [68]
Westmoreland	55,776	19,523	74.07	25.93 [69]
Wyoming	4,610	1,772	72.23	27.77 [70]
York	50,307	14,413	77.73	22.27 [71]
State total	1,765,384	620,104	74.01	25.99 [72]

Aftermath

On October 10, 2019, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and Lorraine Haw filed a lawsuit alleging that the measure violated Pennsylvania's constitutional amendment separate-vote requirement. The basis of this argument stemmed from Article XI of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which states: "When two or more amendments shall be submitted they shall be voted upon separately." The litigation also argued the summary provided on the ballot was incomplete. ^[73]

On October 30, before Election Day, Judge Ellen Ceisler enjoined the acting secretary of state Kathy Boockvar from counting or certifying votes cast on the amendment, pending a final ruling. ^[72]

On October 31, the next day, Boockvar appealed the injunction. On November 4, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the preliminary injunction in a 4 to 3 ruling. ^[72]

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

On June 10, 2020, arguments for the case were heard by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. On January 7, 2021, the court ruled 3 to 2 that the measure violated Pennsylvania's single-amendment rule. ^[72]

The ruling was appealed by four individuals, Shameekah Moore, Martin Vickless, Kristin June Irwin, and Kelly Williams, to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, after Gov. Tom Wolf decided to not appeal the decision. ^[72]

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

On September 21, 2021, arguments were heard by the court. On December 21, two months later, the court ruled 6 to 1 to upheld the Commonwealth Court's decision. ^[72]

References

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Notes

1. Pennsylvania law requires for amendments to be passed by the legislature in two consecutive legislative sessions. ^[1]
2. Results for the amendment could not be found for this county.
3. Results for the amendment could not be found for this county.
4. Results for the amendment could not be found for this county.
5. Results for the amendment could not be found for this county.
6. Results for the amendment could not be found for this county.