Keystone Today

Members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate have sent letters to the inspector general and attorney general seeking several investigations of the recent election, and to Pennsylvania's congressional delegation urging the lawmakers to dispute the slate of electors certified by Gov. Wolf.

Several lawmakers made statements regarding the letters.

Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) said lawmakers needed to get the public’s trust back for elections.

“The unconstitutional actions of an activist court created confusion and delays for every voter in Pennsylvania,” Cutler said in the statement. “These letters are a continuation of actions the Legislature has taken for months to restore our election law, and the public’s trust in our election process.”

State Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) said the General Assembly would focus on transparency and accountability for elections.

“As the General Assembly is constitutionally barred from interfering with election results, we are developing every possible option and tool at our disposal to bring transparency and accountability to the 2020 General Election,” Grove said in the statement.

Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) said he was concerned with the number of failures and mistakes during the 2020 election.

“Regardless of their political affiliation, we want people to feel confident in the election process,” Benninghoff said in a statement. ”While we constitutionally cannot act as a Legislature to fix these problems at this time, there is action that can be taken to ensure the integrity of our election is upheld and the voice of Pennsylvanians is heard.”

Benninghoff said he hoped the letters would be taken seriously and to ensure that the state had free and fair elections.

A letter to Attorney General Josh Shapiro sought a review of election irregularities. It asks for an independent prosecutor to ensure there were no conflict of interest when reviewing the 2020 election. 

The letter to Inspector General Lucas Miller calls for a review of the Department of State’s internal policies and procedures during the election. It also asks for a review of the server for any possible website glitches. 

The letter to the Pennsylvania delegation asks the lawmakers to dispute the Electoral College votes from the state's electors.

Each of the letters notes that during the 2019 legislative session, the General Assembly enacted changes in the election code. Those changes, coupled with changes made right before the 2020 election resulted in a lack of statewide continuity on how elections are conducted, the letters state.