Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania House and Senate introduced a six-page resolution outlining an excessive number of documented “irregularities and improprieties” from the General Election. The resolution details the outrageous conduct of Democratic officials in both the executive and judiciary branches of the state. In short, the resolution unambiguously states that they conducted the election in blatant violation of the Pennsylvania Election Code. Some of the most litigated claims include the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s role in reducing the safeguards around absentee/mail-in voting and the disparate treatment of mail-in voters and in-person voters, notably favoring voters in predominantly Democratic counties.
As a result of these violations and in light on on-going litigation, the General Assembly “takes back and reserves the power to designate presidential electors for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the December 2020 meeting of the Electoral College and withdraws any prior statement or direction to the contrary given by the General Assembly or any other official or body,” among other remedies. They ask that Secretary of State Boockvar and Governor Wolf vacate the certification of presidential electors so that they will act in conformity with this resolution and urge the US Congress to accept electors only as certified by the Pennsylvania House and Senate.
The resolution also underscores the questionable rush to certify results, especially given the on-going litigation around the conduct of this election. In the prior Presidential Election, results were certified on December 12, 2016. This time, Secretary Boockvar “unilaterally and prematurely” certified the results on November 24, 2020.
On December 4, members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly urging the U.S. Pennslyvania Congressional Delegation “to object, and vote to sustain such objection, to the Electoral College votes received from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”