Keystone Today

A delegation of Republican senators have brushed aside efforts by the Trump campaign to get state legislatures to award electoral votes to Donald Trump. 

The Trump campaign has beseeched legislators to go against final vote tallies and award electoral votes to Donald Trump in states where the presidential election was close.  

State Sens. Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) and Kim Ward (R- Hempfield Township) and House Reps. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) and Kerry Benninghoff (R-Bellefonte), as the leaders of the House and Senate, said in a letter that while they are not saying that the issues that occurred in the 2020 general election are ones that need not be be addressed, they are saying that the law doesn’t allow them to appoint electors. 

“Make no mistake, this should not be misconstrued to suggest we will allow the issues presented with the 2020 General Election to evade complete legislative review and action,” the letter states. “We believe that many of the issues presented after the 2020 General Election could have been avoided if not for the actions of Secretary Boockvar and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”

The letter says that appointing electors for the election cannot be done because there are provisions in the election code that prohibits them from changing the rules for election contests of the president after the election.

It notes that doing so would set a precedent that the simple majority of the General Assembly could easily override the will of the people and the popular vote.

“Just as we have over the last eight months, we will stand up and fight so that the voice of the people is heard, and that the rule of law is held to the highest possible standard,” the leaders wrote in the letter. “Pennsylvanians deserve confidence in their elections and in the government chosen by those elections. No matter what the emergency or crisis is before us, nothing stands above the law and it is our jobs to protect it.”

The leaders wrote that they lack the authority to take action to overturn the popular vote and appoint their own presidential elector.

“We fully endorse the President’s — and any candidate’s — right to bring appropriate legal actions to address those matters in court,” the letter states. “In fact, we ourselves have brought or participated in several of those legal actions to challenge practices we did not believe, complied with the Election Code, Pennsylvania Constitution, and United States Constitution.”

The leaders note that the president has the right as a candidate to present evidence in court to challenge the election results and those rights should not be “undercut or sold short.

According to the Washington Post, Trump lost Pennsylvania by a margin of 81,874 votes.