Pa. House approves 2020 election audit
Cites inconsistencies, confusion, hopes for future improvement
HARRISBURG — A deeply divided state House on Thursday voted to approve a Republican-sponsored measure that sets up an audit of the 2020 election, citing inconsistencies and confusion in the electorate as evidence the process must be improved for future contests.
The vote was 112 in favor of the audit and 90 against, with all Republicans and three Democrats voting in favor.
“There is no need to fear this audit. I welcome it. We all should welcome it, to find out what went right and what went wrong,” said Bedford County Republican Rep. Jesse Topper, the prime sponsor of the audit resolution.
The intent, he said, is not to look for fraud but to get an in-depth assessment of how the Nov. 3 election was carried out, in time to possibly take legislative action early next year to improve the system.
The resolution directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee — a bipartisan
committee with members from both House and Senate — to oversee a “risk-limiting” audit. It allows the committee to hire an outside contractor to do the work.
It may begin almost immediately and is expected to be complete by early February, at the latest.
Democrats attacked the proposal, calling it unconstitutional, damaging to democracy and unnecessary. Gov. Tom Wolf issued a written statement during the debate, saying any audit done by this approach would be “incomplete, duplicative and unreliable.”
Democratic Rep. Steve Samuelson of Northampton County lashed into the lack of a price tag for the contractor, and called it an “open-ended ticket” for spending.
Topper rebuffed Samuelson, saying “I don’t believe you can put a cost” on having trust in an election.
One focus of Democratic Rep. Kevin Boyle of Philadelphia was the fact that the legislative vehicle for the audit was a “House resolution” rather than a “bill,” meaning it only needed approval by the House. He called it unconstitutional and a blatant exclusion of the Senate and the governor from the law-approving process.
“We apparently don’t think they have any role,” Boyle said.
Republicans ticked off example after example of apparent problems in carrying out the latest election. They cited 29,000 ballots sent out incorrectly in Allegheny County; two counties in Topper’s district treating ballots in two different ways; and a Lancaster County letter that cited confusion caused by state guidance.
And several pointed out that it was the first presidential election since Pennsylvania enacted a major overhaul of its voting laws, that new voting machines were being used, and it was carried out in the middle of a pandemic. House Speaker Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County said, “An audit to ensure the intended processes operated correctly is not a political statement, but a requirement of open and transparent government.”
The three Democrats who voted for the audit were Reps. Frank Burns of Cambria County, Mark Longietti of Mercer County, and Chris Sainato of Lawrence County.
The committee also is expected to generate a report that is to include, for each county and for the state as a whole:
▪ For both absentee and mail-in ballots, the number of applications received, the number that were approved by the county board of elections, and the number returned by voters that were subsequently canvassed.
▪ The number of qualified voters who used provisional ballots.
▪ The number of applications for absentee ballots from people who were not registered to vote, but subsequently did submit a voter registration application in time for the election — and the same information concerning mail-in ballots.
▪ For each county, the date and time that the county board of elections began pre-canvassing absentee ballots and mail-in ballots.
▪ Reviews of incidents with voting machines; of “any inconsistent treatment” of mail-in ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day; of any inconsistencies in the way counties processed “deficient” ballots; and of access given to poll watchers and “authorized representatives.”
The House vote came the day after its State Government Committee approved the resolution in a party-line vote.
The wording of the resolution says, “Pennsylvania citizens have questioned the process by which the 2020 general election has been conducted.”