PA Governor, Attorney General Blast State Vote Audit Attempt

Pittsburgh PA

08 July, 2021

1:38 PM

Description

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro blasted state Sen. Doug Mastriano's call for a "forensic investigation" of votes cast in the 2020 general and 2021 primary elections. Mastriano, of Franklin County, who is closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, said Wednesday in a post on his website that the necessity for such a probe is "evident to any unbiased observer." His remarks occurred despite there being no county election board or state official claiming any widespread voter fraud in state elections. Mastriano has asked Philadelphia, Tioga and York counties to submit to the investigation and provide a plan as to how they will do so by July 31. As chair of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, he could issue subpoenas to officials of non-compliant counties with a majority vote of the panel. Mastriano and 63 other GOP state lawmakers signed a statement in December asking Congress to block Pennsylvania's electoral votes from being cast for Joe Biden. During the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Mastriano was photographed outside the building but later said he did not enter it. Wolf noted Mastriano's presence at the deadly disturbance in a tweet Thursday denouncing the audit attempt. "Six months after he was at the U.S. Capitol insurrection, one of our lawmakers is attempting to launch a sham election audit in PA," Wolf stated. "This is a disgrace to democracy — not to mention a profound waste of time and taxpayer money. I won't stand for it." Shapiro said the audits are unnecessary and could cost participating counties millions of dollars. "Although two legal audits have already been completed in Pennsylvania, Sen. Mastriano is now requesting a laundry list of confidential and privileged information from three Pennsylvania counties in continued efforts to pay homage to former President Trump and further spread misinformation about our elections," Shapiro said in a news release. Shapiro advised the counties to refuse to take part in what he termed a "partisan fishing expedition. "This 'audit' could risk decertifying the counties' voting machines, costing county taxpayers' millions of dollars," he said. "Right now this information is being requested voluntarily but should subpoenas be issued, you can expect our office to do everything to protect the commonwealth, its voters and the free, fair election that was held in Pennsylvania." In last November's election, Biden received 3,458,229 votes in Pennsylvania to Trump's 3,377,674 and captured the state's 20 electoral votes. Biden's victory in Pennsylvania won the presidency for him. Be the first to know what's happening in your community and region. With a free Patch subscription, you'll always be up to date on local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe