Pa. Dem legislative leaders pan GOP investigation into election
HARRISBURG— The Pennsylvania House and Senate Democratic leaders are calling on their Republican counterparts to accept the 2020 presidential election results and “move on and focus ona peaceful transition.”
In a statement that responds to one issued Thursday evening by House and Senate GOP leaders, Senate Minority Leader Jay
Costa of Allegheny County and House Minority Leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia on Friday said the state had a “free, fair and secure election” executed with integrity by county election officials. They said the Republicans’ plans to investigate aspects of how it was conducted “undermine that faith and sow doubt in our form of government.”
“The votes, fairly cast, have been accurately counted and reported. It is time to move on and fo -cus on a peaceful transition — rather than partisan efforts to undermine the results they don’t like,” Mr. Costa and Ms. McClinton’s statement read. “The sham process they have now unveiled, preceded by a COVID super spreader hearing in Gettysburg last week with Rudy Giuliani, is counterproductive, undemocratic and hypocritical as they seem to have complete confidence in their
own electoral victories.”
The Republican leaders announced they will use their statutory power to investigate and seek answers to the questions arising from last month’s election that produced a win in the state for President-elect Joe Biden. Gov. Tom Wolf certified Mr. Biden’s win by more than 81,000 votes over President Donald Trump on Nov. 24.
The GOP leaders said the need to delve into issues surrounding the election is “crucial to restoring public confidence in elections.” Their probe will focus on three areas: the security of voting and vote counting, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar’s management of the election, and the role the courts played in “legislating from the bench.”
The Republicans also noted in their statement that they have forwarded to U.S. Attorney William Barr information shared during a Nov. 25 Senate Majority Policy Committee meeting in Gettysburg where Trump lawyers presented testimony alleging improprieties in how the state’s election was conducted and votes were counted, plus other unfounded allegations.
Mr. Barr said this week the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would over turn Mr. Trump’s loss
The next legislative session is scheduled to start Jan. 5.
The Democratic leaders point out that the Republicans’ criticisms about the election arise from a 2019 law which GOP members in both chambers broadly supported. They said, “If Republicans truly cared about improving our elections, they would have permitted pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots — per the request of the governor, Democratic members of the General Assembly, and every county inthe commonwealth.”