Pennsylvania is closer to an audit of the 2020 presidential election results like the one occurring in Maricopa County, Arizona, according to Mike Brest with The Washington Examiner.
Brest flagged an op-ed from State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33rd district) posted to his website on Wednesday, "Why I am initiating a forensic investigation of the 2020 General Election and 2021 Primary."
A forensic investigation of our election results and processes for the 2020 General Election and the 2021 Primary will go a long way to restore trust in our system.https://t.co/mIL0lqhYIr
— Senator Doug Mastriano (@SenMastriano) July 7, 2021
As Brest wrote:
Letters were sent to Philadelphia County, York County, and Tiago County, Mastiano said in a Wednesday morning interview on One America News Network, but there could be more in his sights if "sufficient evidence" of "shenanigans and corruption or fraud" is found.
Not only is the 2020 election mentioned, but also the 2021 primary, during which there were problems with machines in Luzerne County. Subpoenas were not explicitly mentioned in the post but remain a possibility. Subpoenas were used to obtain ballots and other election materials in Maricopa County, but not before the GOP-led Arizona Senate went to court in a legal fight against the county, and a judge determined the subpoenas were "legal and enforceable."
A similar legal engagement could play out in Pennsylvania, delaying plans for the audit. In a statement following Mastriano's announcement, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro accused the lawmaker's continued efforts of being a way for him to "pay homage to former President Trump and further spread misinformation about our elections," and he urged county officials not to comply with the requests.
Mastriano conducted a private briefing for his GOP colleagues in the state Senate last week, and he obtained legal advice from a Philadelphia-based law firm about the GOP caucus using private money to pay for consultants and lawyers.
Sen. Mastriano has been encouraged to run for governor by former President Donald Trump for the 2022 Republican primary, according to Brest.
A segment posted to the OAN website on June 4 noted that the senator had toured the Capitol and the election audit in Maricopa County, noting that Mastriano does not want to overturn any election, just find out what went right and what went wrong.
On the audit there, the senator said "the transparency here and the discipline in the process is absolutely fantastic," pointing to how "there's no compromising, there's a chain of custody, there's cameras on everything." He also said "I don't see any room for shenanigans," and indicated he would want to model such an audit as the one in Maricopa County.
The op-ed from Mastriano highlights the need for election integrity.
As "Chair of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee, I issued letters to several counties requesting information and materials needed to conduct a forensic investigation of the 2020 General Election and the 2021 Primary," he wrote.
He cites the committee duties and Pennsylvania law for justification:
The Intergovernmental Operations Committee is a standing committee of the Pennsylvania State Senate with oversight and investigatory responsibilities regarding activities relating to or conducted between two or more governments or levels of government, including the administration of elections across the Commonwealth. As set forth in Pennsylvania Senate Rule 14 (d), each standing committee is empowered with the authority to inspect and investigate the books, records, papers, documents, data, operation, and physical plant of any public agency in this Commonwealth, including county boards of elections.
Because some counties are Republican and some are Democrat, Mastriano argued this "means that this will be a balanced investigation."
Mastriano cites concerns with a "'mass' mail-in voting" election, and also points to a January poll from Muhlenberg University about the views of Pennsylvanians to do with the 2020 election. Thirty-four percent of respondents said they were "Not Confident at All" that "The final results of the election accurately reflected how Pennsylvanians voted." A plurality, at 49 percent they were "Very Confident."
The senator cited that 40 percent of voters were not confident. It appears that he is speaking of the 40 percent of men respondents who were "Not Confident at All."
"This investigation is not about overturning the results of either election. The goals are to restore faith in the integrity of our system, confirm the effectiveness of existing legislation on the governance of elections, and identify areas for legislative reform," the senator writes further down in the op-ed.
Mastriano has asked that the counties respond by July 31.