The Inquirer
October 11, 2017
Pedro Cortes, Pennsylvania’s secretary of state, abruptly resigned three weeks after his agency came under criticism for a glitch that may have allowed thousands of ineligible immigrants statewide to vote.
His departure comes a week after State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, chairman of the House State Government Committee, and 15 of his colleagues sent Cortes a letter “to express our dire concerns” about the disclosure three weeks ago that legal resident noncitizens in Pennsylvania had been offered the chance to register to vote while applying for or renewing drivers’ licenses at PennDot service centers.
Metcalfe, a Butler County Republican who has been preparing to hold a hearing on the issue before the Nov. 7 general election, said he received a phone call from the governor’s office Wednesday to inform him Cortes was stepping down. He said he and his colleagues are still waiting on an answer to their questions in last week’s letter. “I’m not sure why [Cortes resigned] or what’s going on, but we’re hopeful to get answers to very important questions,” Metcalfe said. “We were hoping to hold [the hearing] to get answers to questions that are important to Pennsylvania voters about how these foreign nationals have gotten onto the voter rolls.”
