State seeks sanctions over outside access to county voting machines

HARRISBURG — Penn- sylvania’s state elections chief wants legal penalties against two Republican county officials and their lawyer for what she calls in a new court filing their “unprecedented, reckless decision” to give an outside group access to voting machines during pending litigation on that subject.

Lawyers for acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman last week asked the state Supreme Court to hold in contempt the two Fulton County commissioners and to dismiss the litigation that had been scheduled for oral argument before the justices this week. Ms. Chapman was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

On Friday afternoon, the justices appointed Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer as a special master to gather evidence on the contempt request and make a report with recommendations by Nov. 18.

During their long-running dispute with the state, Fulton County GOP Commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch had allowed one group, Wake TSI, access to voting machines as part of the failed effort to locate fraud that might overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat.

That prompted the Department of State to tell counties they “shall not” allow such access to voting machines. Mr. Ulsh and Mr. Bunch were moments away from permitting a second group, Envoy Sage, to inspect the machines in January when the state Supreme Court put that on hold. The inspection planned in January was to involve computers, electronic poll books, ballot scanners and possibly more.

Litigation over that inspection and the state’s order prohibiting outside access had been scheduled for oral argument at next week’s court session in Pittsburgh, but that was canceled with Judge Cohn Jubelirer’s appointment.

The contempt and sanctions request filed Tuesday was prompted by a disclosure in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed last month by Fulton County, Mr. Ulsh and Mr. Bunch against machine manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems Inc. The county disclosed that a third group, Speckin Forensics LLC of Lansing, Mich., copied hard drives from Fulton County’s Dominion machines in midJuly.

“A more brazen example of litigation misconduct — indeed, outright defiance of this commonwealth’s high court — is difficult to imagine,” the state’s lawyers told the justices.

Ms. Chapman seeks contempt orders against Mr. Ulsh and Mr. Bunch, an order that they and their lawyer, Thomas J. Carroll, pay the state’s costs and legal fees and an order forcing the county to return the rented voting machines to Dominion.

She argues they have spoiled critical evidence and wants the case dismissed.

“In short, petitioners have thoroughly compromised the integrity of this proceeding, to the great prejudice of the secretary, the judiciary, and the public,” Ms. Chapman’s lawyers told the justices.

Mr. Carroll on Thursday asked the high court for more time to respond, a request the justices promptly denied.

Rural Fulton County is overwhelmingly Republican, giving Mr. Trump more than 85% of the county’s vote in 2020.