Harrisburg, Pa. (WENY)-- With the General Election now seven weeks away, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is once again calling on lawmakers to pass an election reform bill. 

This comes after the General Assembly passed the state’s first election reform bill in 80 years last fall. But after a few issues popped up during the state’s June primary, the Department of State issued recommendations to clean those issues up.

“Our elections here in Pennsylvania are safe, they are reliable, and voters should have great confidence in their local election officials. But we can do things to make that system better,” says Governor Wolf

The Governor is calling on the Legislature to make four changes. The first proposal is to give counties 21 days to pre-canvass mail-in ballots. It’s currently only allowed starting at 7:00am on Election Day. The second proposal is to allow counties to count mail-in ballots postmarked on election day and received the Friday after the election. Another proposal would require counties to send out mail-in ballots 28 days before an election, rather than the 14 days currently allowed. The final proposal listed by the Governor would be to let counties appoint poll workers to vacant positions earlier than the five days currently allowed.

“I’m calling on the General Assembly to act this week to make sure that our local election officials have the tools, they have the resources they need to process votes in a timely manner,” Governor Wolf says.

House Bill 2626 would implement some of those changes. The bill, proposed by Rep. Dan Moul (R- Adams), would allow counties to start pre-canvassing ballots three days before an election. The bill would move the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot to 15 days before an election. The current deadline is seven days. The bill would also allow poll workers to serve at any polling location across the state.

House Bill 2626 also clarifies where mail-in and absentee ballots may be returned other than through the postal service. That includes your County Board of Elections office, your polling place, or your county courthouse. However, it essentially outlaws the use of ballot drop boxes. That’s a provision Democrats are severely against. As the bill currently stands, the Governor doesn’t support it. House Republican Spokesperson Jason Gottesman responded to the Governor’s press conference Tuesday morning.

“House Bill 2626 is crafted based upon the concepts outlined in the Wolf administration’s report on the primary election and improvements they asked for from the General Assembly…we are literally enacting the concepts that they asked for. If House Bill 2626 is not the product that the Wolf administration would like, keep in mind, they refused to negotiate the bill with the General Assembly,” Gottesman wrote.

House Bill 2626 is awaiting action in the Senate after passing the House by a vote of 112-90 earlier this month.  The Senate could take up the bill as early as next week. But unless amendments are made, the Governor will likely issue a veto if it reaches his desk.

House Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to advance legislation that falls more in line with the Governor’s proposals. Rep. Kevin Boyle (D- Philadelphia) says the House State Government Committee is meeting on Wednesday to discuss Senate Bill 178, which deals with the electronic filing of campaign finance reports. Rep. Boyle is planning to make several amendments to the bill that would: give counties 14 days to pre-canvass mail-in and absentee ballots, and allow poll workers to be residents of the county, rather than requiring they be residents of the election district in which they vote. 

“Immediate action is needed to address the enormous volume of mail-in ballots expected to be cast. We need to ensure that Pennsylvania does not become a national embarrassment on Election Day,” says Rep. Boyle.

Election Day, which is Tuesday, November 3rd, is 49 days away.