Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar | dos.pa.gov
Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar | dos.pa.gov
A resolution was filed in Pennsylvania that declared the results of the 2020 General Election to be in dispute.
The five-page resolution says that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the power to hold elections at their own times and places and empowers state legislatures “to direct the manner of appointing electors for President and Vice President of the United States…”
The state’s election code requires that all absentee ballots be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day and requires that officials at polling places verify signatures of those who vote in person.
Election code also requires each county board of elections is not able to meet to conduct pre-canvassing of absentee ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. They are then required to identify any defects in mail-in ballots, the resolution states.
State code says that defective mail-in ballots cannot be counted and that “watchers,” which are chosen by political parties and candidates, are allowed to observe the canvassing.
The resolution notes that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court “unlawfully and unilaterally” extended the mail-in ballot deadline in September, allowing for mail-in ballots without postmarks to be presumed as timely and allowing for ballots without verified signatures to be accepted.
The Supreme Court then ruled in October that signatures on mail-in ballots did not need to be authenticated at all, eliminating critical safeguards against fraud.
“WHEREAS, On November 2, 2020, the night before the November 3, 2020, election and prior to the prescribed time for pre-canvassing mail-in ballots, the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth encouraged certain counties in this Commonwealth to notify party and candidate representatives of mail-in voters whose ballots contained defects…” the resolution states.
It notes that heavily Democrat counties were then allowed to fix the ballot defects while the Republican counties followed the law and invalidated the ballots.
The resolution states that the House of Representatives disapproves of the infringement on the General Assembly’s authority regarding election laws and notes the irregularities. It also disapproves of and disagrees with the secretary of the commonwealth’s premature certification and disputes the election results.
The resolution urges Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar, as well as Gov. Tom Wolf to withdraw the certification.
Alerts Sign-up