Pennsylvania Election Results
Date of Election Certification
November 24th, 2020
Were there bipartisan election observers allowed? Yes.
Pennsylvania allows observers from each party to watch ballot counting. Their ability to get close enough was subject to a number of lawsuits that were all rejected and the courts held that observer requirements were complied with during the 2020 election. Source
Background on the Sham Review
Overview
An “audit” in Fulton County had been pushed by former President Donald Trump’s surrogate and Republican state Senator Doug Mastriano at the end of 2020. It was conducted, and the company conducting the review concluded that the election was well run and conducted in a diligent and effective manner. Source
Following his trip to Maricopa County, Mastriano and other GOP lawmakers were calling for a more extensive audit following the Arizona model. On July 7, Mastriano sent a letter to three counties, Philadelphia, Tioga, and York, requesting extensive access to their equipment and paper ballots. As of August 13, 2021, Philadelphia and Tioga Counties chose not to not to comply to Mastriano’s request. York County raised concerns regarding his request but have not said yes or no. Source Source Source Source
On August 27th President Pro Tempore Jake Corman stripped Sen. Mastriano’s chairmanship of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations panel and assigned the role to State Senator Cris Dush. Sen. Mastriano remains a member of the 11-member panel. Source
On September 15th, 2021 the Pennsylvania State Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee voted 7-2 along party lines to issue a subpoena for private information of millions of voters in preparation for a partisan review of the 2020 election results. Senate Democrats, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, and state Senator Art Haywood filed separate lawsuits challenging the subpoena. Source Source Source Source
Key Actors
Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano
Mastriano is pushing for a broader audit. Not only did he attend the "Stop the Steal" January 6th rally, his campaign spent thousands of dollars on charter buses to send people to the event that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. SourceSource
Pennsylvania’s President Pro Tempore Jake Corman
Corman, after weeks of silence about a potential “investigation” says he is “committed to conducting a full investigatory audit of recent elections to improve our election system going forward.” Corman dismissed State Senator Mastriano and appointed State Senator Cris Dush to take up the cause. Corman’s flip-flop on the election review came after he spoke with ex-President Trump. SourceSourceSourceSource
Pennsylvania State Senator Cris Dush
Dush, was appointed by President Pro Tempore Jake Corman to “take up this cause and initiate a thorough review of the election.” Dush is close with Senator Mastriano and travelled with Mastriano to tour the Cyber Ninja’s operation in Marciopa County, Arizona. SourceSource
Federal Election Protection & Security Concerns
Voting machines custody issues
Voting machines custody issues Fulton County allowed improper third-party access to voting machines and operating systems. This equipment can no longer be used in future elections. SourceAs of July 8, 2021, there is not enough information about the Mastriano-backed "audit" and the protocols and procedures to know the extent of whether or not it will compromise voting equipment or voter privacy. The Secretary of State issued a directive to all county Boards of Election that providing third-parties access to electronic voting equipment and/or its systems would render the equipment insecure, uncertified, and unusable. Source
State & Local Reactions
“It is time for Sen. Mastriano to withdraw his demands and to let responsible Republicans get back to work on subjects such as recovering from COVID-19, addressing the opioid crisis and the ‘help wanted’ issue,” - Tioga County Commissioners write in a statement Source
“Unless there is a coup, which is not going to happen in the United States, the 2020 election is over.” - Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, , wrote on his Senate website Source
“Why bring the Arizona clown show to Pennsylvania?”-“ former Congressman Charlie Dent, a centrist Republican from Allentown. Source
"The current attempt to discredit the 2020 election results runs headlong into an unmistakable truth. Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania because Donald Trump received fewer votes." - Republican Pennsylvania state Senator Dan Laughlin Source
“The PA House of Representatives will not be authorizing any further audits on any previous election.We are focused on fixing our broken election law to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.” — State Rep. Seth Grove, Republican chair of the committee that held 10 hearings on Pennsylvania’s election system. Source
"Any election audit should be based on reasonable grounds, not an unfounded theory, because taxpayers should never be burdened with the cost of a political point-scoring exercise." —William Cinfici, a conservative activist and writer, the former chairman of the Republican Party in Reading, Pennsylvania, and a former elected member of the Pennsylvania State Republican Committee penned an op-ed in the National Review. Source
“I would encourage our legislators to educate themselves to know that our election was certified and that it was audited, not once - but twice - and there was no doubt about the outcome. It was safe, it was secure, and it wasn’t even close.”—City Commissioner of Philadelphia Al Schmidt. Source
Funding Streams
The audit in Fulton County was funded by Defending the Republic, Trump attorney Sidney Powell’s organization. Source
The Sen. Mastriano-backed election review does not have clear funding. Sen. Camera Bartolotta, who tuned in for part of Mastriano’s presentation on June 30th, said: “I don’t know who’s going to pay for an audit.” Mastriano may be seeking private funding for the audit as he has asked for a legal opinion on the legality of doing so. Source
Evidence of Partisan Motivations
Sen. Mastriano is a committed Trump supporter and heavily involved in the Stop-the-Steal movement. He attended the January 6 insurrection.
SourceMastriano also solicited legal advice from a Philadelphia-based law firm about the Senate Republican caucus using private money to finance consultants and lawyers. Lawyer Bruce S. Marks—who did legal work for the Trump campaign after the 2020 election—confirmed he wrote the letter.
SourceAfter Wake TSI completed its unauthorized review in Fulton County, it found the election was “well run” and followed all state and federal law. However, in response to a request by Sen. Mastriano, it altered its report to include additional language to cast doubt on the results.
SourceThe audit in Fulton County was funded by Defending the Republic, Sidney Powell’s organization.
SourceStatus & Timeline
Status: Not Complete
The Fulton County “audit” is complete and uncovered no irregularities. Source
On July 7, Sen. Mastriano sent requests for information to three counties, Philadelphia, Tioga, and York. He requested extensive material, including access to all election equipment (or images of their drives) as well as all paper ballots. He has requested that the material be provided to his Senate Committee by July 31. Source
As of July 31, officials in Tioga and Philadelphia declined to share election information with Mastriano, and York has raised concerns but has not directly turned him down. Source Source Source
As of August 27th President Pro Tempore Jake Corman has stripped Sen. Mastriano’s chairmanship of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations panel and assigned the role to Sen. Cris Dush. Corman said hearings would begin in the past week, that has not happened. Questions remain about how the investigations would be funded, where the equipment would be stored, and what processes will be in place to handle vast amounts of documents. Source
On September 15th the Pennsylvania State Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee issued more than a dozen subpoenas requesting personal information of every voter, in preparation for a partisan review of the 2020 election results. Source
Have Leaders From Pennsylvania Reportedly Traveled To The Cyber Ninjas Sham Review? Yes.
State Sen Cris Dush, State Sen Doug Mastriano, and State Rep Rob Kauffman visited Arizona over Memorial Day weekend and indicated a desire to reproduce the effort in their state. Source
A Project of
