As votes continue to be counted in a handful of swing states, a pair of Pennsylvania state legislators are calling on Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar to resign her position. Pennsylvania State Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-34) and Joe Scarnati (R-25) say that Secretary Boockvar is guilty of “undermining public confidence” in the state’s election results.
The secretary of state “fundamentally changed” Pennsylvania’s election procedure, with regard to mail-in ballots, Corman and Scarnati say.
“Twice in the last two days, the Secretary of State has fundamentally altered the manner in which Pennsylvania's election is being conducted. The constantly changing guidance she has delivered to counties not only directly contradicts the Election Code language she is sworn to uphold, but also conflicts her own litigation statements and decisions of both the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. Secretary Boockvar told the U.S. Supreme Court on October 28 that ballots received after 8 p.m. on November 3 would be segregated, but she changed the rules on November 1 and directed counties to canvass those ballots as soon as possible upon receipt," they said in a release. "In some counties, it is not possible to both segregate and canvass ballots as directed. This directive leaves open the possibility that timely votes will be commingled with votes received after 8 p.m. on Election Day, despite the fact that these votes remain the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court. The Department changed the rules again on November 2 when they provided last-second guidance directing counties to provide information to help voters whose mail-in or absentee ballots were incorrectly completed so those voters could vote on a provisional ballot. The late release of this ‘guidance’ resulted in inconsistent application across the counties – some of whom contacted voters as directed and some who did not. There is no basis for this guidance in current law. The Secretary created this new process out of thin air.”
The new guidance distributed by Secretary Boockvar violates the state’s election code, which she is sworn to uphold, the GOP lawmakers argue. Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballots remain uncounted on a large scale.