Top Republicans in the Pennsylvania Legislature reportedly called on Gov. Tom Wolf (D) Friday to carry out an “immediate audit” of the 2020 elections, citing the existence of an “unprecedented” 105,000 provisional ballots, among other things.
The
Morning Call revealed that House Speaker Bryan Cutler, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, all Republicans in the Pennsylvania Legislature, called for the audit.
Except for Corman, the GOP legislators
raised the specter of voter fraud, echoing President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Cutler reportedly told reporters the audit was necessary “to ensure that the election process can be verified as accurate.”
The
Morning Call noted:
Cutler ticked off a list of issues related to the conduct of the election. They included:
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, he said, “unconstitutionally” extended the deadline for late ballots, and the issue ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court. In a letter to Wolf, Cutler said, “This judicial intervention created unnecessary chaos and uncertainty.”
- Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, the letter said, issued conflicting guidance to counties on how to manage late-arriving ballots.
- Poll watchers, which Cutler described as key to promoting fairness and transparency, were not allowed to observe pre-canvassing and canvassing activity.
- The existence of 105,000 requested provisional ballots “are indicative of voter issues across the Commonwealth.”
“Governor, all these issues could have been avoided had your Secretary of State and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court simply followed the law as written,” the state House Speaker wrote in the letter.
Breitbart News
obtained a memo the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sent to House Republicans on Saturday, detailing “election irregularities in Pennsylvania,” including the issues raised by Cutler.
On Friday, Pennsylvania’s House Majority Leader Benninghoff reportedly revealed that he stood with Cutler and Corman in calling for the audit.
“The current election process has been chaotic and led to legitimate questions being raised about its integrity,” he declared.
Corman, the state Senate majority leader, reportedly conceded that he had no direct knowledge of any voter fraud or “misdeeds” in the election.
However, he added that the process run by the sate’s Democrat-run Department of State had raised so many questions that “no matter who wins, you are now going to have 50% of the population, no matter which side, that is going to not have faith in the result.”
On Election Day, Corman joined another top Republican in Pennsylvania, state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, calling for the state’s secretary of state, Boockvar, to
resign.
The secretary “fundamentally altered” the conduct of the state election by giving “constantly changing guidance” to counties, they asserted.
Boockvar denied the claims, saying the Republican lawmakers mischaracterized her instructions to county officials on handling mail-in ballots.
On Saturday, the corporate media, citing unofficial election results,
declared Biden the winner of Pennsylvania, pushing him over the 270 electoral college votes required to win the presidency.
President Trump, who believes mail-in ballots make the election vulnerable to fraud, has already said he plans to challenge election results in battleground states.
“The simple fact is this election is far from over,” the president proclaimed in a statement Friday.
Democrats and their mainstream media allies have dismissed the allegations of fraud as
baseless. Some
Republicans have
joined them.
The U.S. Constitution grants state legislatures the authority to select the presidential electors in the Electoral College.