Interim Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Majority Chairman Seth Grove (R-Dover) announced this week that the committee will begin holding hearings on the process undertaken in the 2020 election.
“Regardless of outcomes, it is incumbent upon the Legislature to ensure that Pennsylvania has free, fair and secure elections. Over the course of the past several weeks, Pennsylvania’s elections experienced a process failure because of undue and ill-conceived interference in our elections by the Pennsylvania Department of State and five Democrat justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” Grove said. “We need to investigate what transpired so we can develop a comprehensive legislative fix to ensure that the people of Pennsylvania can have faith in their future elections. That review must happen now, while all the evidence remains before us and the events leading up to our general election are fresh in the minds of all participants.”
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) supported the effort and agreed the committee’s work should begin immediately.
“A thorough review of this year’s election process is necessary. Having safe and secure elections with reliable results should not be a Republican or Democrat issue. That is why we are using the bipartisan standing committee structure to handle this legislative function,” Benninghoff said. “The time for reviewing the 2020 election is now, while the incidents and concerns of the election are before us, to guarantee that future elections are conducted with the integrity and confidence Pennsylvanians and Americans deserve.
“Every legal vote should be counted. That should not be a partisan belief. However, partisan meddling by Democrats before, during and after the conclusion of Tuesday’s election has cast serious doubts about the security of Pennsylvania’s election processes and results.
“From decisions issued by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that are in direct conflict with current law, and contradictory and confusing guidance issued by the Secretary of State to counties on how to handle certain ballots, to poll watchers being denied access to observe pre-canvassing and canvassing activities, the current election process has been chaotic and led to legitimate questions being raised about its integrity.
“I want to assure Pennsylvanians and the American people that we are closely monitoring election-related misconduct and will use every legal and legislative tool at our disposal to stand up for the rule of law and the legitimacy of our elections.
“If people do not have faith in the election process, they will not have faith in the government elected by it.”
