Pennsylvania Election Examination Accepts Republican Campaigning – CBS Pittsburgh

Harrisburg, PA (AP) – False allegations of stealing former President Donald Trump’s elections have been condemned by the courts, his own Department of Justice, and numerous recounts.

But in the bitter state of Pennsylvania, where Trump lost 80,000 votes eight months ago, they are finding new signs of life.

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State Republican lawmakers, backed by campaign support from Republican gubernatorial candidates and US Senators, have begun sponsoring a “forensic investigation” into the results of the presidential election. This is a review modeled on an ongoing, untrusted process in Arizona.

The effort is likely to face legal issues, is still limited to three counties, and has been rejected by Republican members. But with this progress, many must stop viewing it as an individual member’s favorite project and take it seriously.

The exams accelerated to the Lithomas test of the electoral cycle, where an open governorship and US Senate (the political equivalent of Blue Moon) resulted in a highly competitive Republican primary.

It’s quiet, but some Republican executives and funders are uncomfortable. Some Republicans personally fear that the sight of a prolonged election test could be a time bomb that would undermine the party’s credibility not only with state democracies but also with critical swing voters. to do.

“Most Republicans I know are at least concerned and, at worst, they know this is a really spectacular failure rate,” said a middle-class Republican from the Allentown area. A former member of the House of Representatives, Charlie Dent, said. “Why bring the Arizona clown show to Pennsylvania?”

Those worries have been easily drowned out by supporters of the effort.

For one, State Senator Doug Mastriano, who claimed Trump “asked” me to run for governor, was the mastermind behind the audit campaign and has been raising funds ever since.

“What I’m looking for is a transparent and thorough investigation to prove to US voters that our votes are counted fairly and that we don’t have to worry. “Mastriano wrote an email complaint last weekend.

Former Congressman Lou Barletta, a rival for governor’s office, said he was there for an exam in December.

Earlier this month, Mastriano sent a letter to three counties including Philadelphia, a Democratic fortress and the state’s largest city, asking for access to an extensive list of information, documents, and equipment.

Gov. Tom Wolf and Josh Shapiro, both Democrats, have vowed to tackle the subpoena and hope that Republicans, disgusted by Trump’s disgust, will have a short audit life. to do.

Subpoenas are a tool that lawmakers have rarely used in the past, and it is unclear whether the court will block such efforts, order the county to comply, or simply not intervene. That’s what Bruce Ledewitz, a constitutional professor at Duquesne University, said.

“The court probably won’t get in each other’s way,” he predicted. “But that doesn’t mean you get some kind of enforceable warrant.”

Mastriano, on the other hand, does not answer important questions such as who works, how to raise money, and where to safely store such a large amount of documents and equipment.

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It didn’t stop candidates for the U.S. Senate or governor from endorsing it.

US Senate candidate Sean Parnell said “half of the states” that don’t trust election results are problems that can be resolved by exams, just “not enough to examine official state and county exams” . Rejected as “tell”. Allegations that something went wrong.

“And now people are saying, ‘Wait a minute, maybe something is wrong.'” They knocked us all out and said, “No, no, ruin yourself, you don’t know what you know, Parnell told the radio show” Host on Wednesday.

In Arizona, the Senate Republican leadership has begun examining unprecedented party votes in Phoenix’s hometown of Maricopa County. These efforts were supported by many Republican lawmakers, including Head of State Kelli Ward and Republican attorney Mark Brnovich, who runs for the US Senate.

But it drew withered criticism from several other Republican supporters, including those overseeing the Maricopa County Oversight Board. Cindy McCain, wife of the late Senator and Republican presidential candidate. Former US Senator Jeff Flake. Republican Governor Doug Ducey avoided this issue altogether.

In Pennsylvania, the Republican and Republican Senate leaders have been silent.

Many Republicans, keen to keep the party out of trials, argue that it is time to question the county’s cost to meet Mastriano’s demands or focus on future elections. Some say it is very unlikely to reveal evidence of a widespread fraudulent weapon, while a number of Republican-led legislative hearings have already put in place laws that deal thoroughly with the issue. I point out.

Republican Chairman Sam Demarco of Allegheny County, home of Pittsburgh, said:

Even so, even Republicans who avoid repeating Trump’s fraudulent election claims have maintained the notion that the Democrats have been deceived.

A few weeks before the November election, they made the actions of state judges and officials in resolving disputes and questions about Pennsylvania’s undeveloped postal voting law “unconstitutional” or “illegal”. It is distorted daily.

A few weeks ago, Republican leaders at the State House refused to hold such a 2020 election test in their room.

Instead, these Republicans said they were promoting the “Voting Rights Act,” which would make elections safer and more accessible, and fix the problems alleged in 2020.

In addition, it would have given the government authority over electoral policy and would have given the current Republican State Auditor a host of new electoral review powers in future elections.

The Democrats rejected the bill as “voter suppression,” and Wolff opposed it, but at least gave the Republican numbers something to highlight as an alternative to the Arizona-style tests of the 2020 election.

“I think that’s the problem,” said Jeffrey Piccola, the Republican-controlled York County GOP chairman. “I don’t think 2020 will solve the problem. I don’t know if it can be solved. “

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