The Pennsylvania state legislature held a hearing on election issues and irregularities on Wednesday. Sen. David Argall said the point of the hearing was to learn more about the conduct of the 2020 election.
“This subject is an excellent example not of the normal layer cake model of intergovernmental operations, but of the marble cake model,” Argall said. “Examples of local government, county government, state government and federal government are all very much involved in the design and conduct of an election. And as we have seen, not always in a logical, rational or understandable model.”
Argall said his office has received a record number of contacts – over 25,000 as of Tuesday – regarding the election in Pennsylvania.
“We all know that the Pennsylvania Secretary of Commonwealth changed the guidance to election officials the day before the Nov. 3 election, which added a completely new element of doubt to our process,” Argall said. “Issues that should’ve been resolved by the legislature as recommended by Supreme Court Justice Max Baier were instead carried out by the Secretary without the approval of the Senate or the House. This committee held a similar event in January of 2020 on recent changes to our state’s election laws. At that time, the Secretary of the Commonwealth ensured us that this process would be carried out smoothly. The large number of complaints which we have received from our constituents tells us a very different story.”
Sen. Kim Ward called the hearing “very, very important” to the people of Pennsylvania. She added the President and his team deserve room to explore every avenue available to them so that when the process is over, they can know what worked, what didn’t work and what they need to do to fix it and address it.
Sen. Doug Mastriano called it a most historic occasion in a most historic town. He said the republic is at stake and executives in the Pennsylvania government are closing their ears to what has happened.
“Sadly, many in the media are complicit and want to write off what happened,” Mastriano said. “Everything is at stake. The republic is at stake. This is no game for us.”
Mastriano said the governor refuses to even consider shenanigans took place because his guy won. However, any hint of fraud needs to be investigated, Mastriano said.
“Any governor serving the people of this commonwealth would put aside his petty politics and find out the truth if anyone was defrauded,” he said. “And at this point, he’s unwilling to do that.”
Mastriano recounted when Secretary Kathy Boockvar was going through the process. Mastriano voted no on her. He said he asked why Afghanistan has more secure elections than Pennsylvania.
“She sat there and blinked and couldn’t give me a straight answer,” he said.
Then, he added, the Pennsylvania Attorney General declared Biden the winner of Pennsylvania a day before the election – before a single vote was counted.
“Could you imagine if the shoe was on the other foot,” he said.
Tens of thousands of people from across the commonwealth are asking and demanding action, Mastriano said.
“And they deserve it,” he said. “The forgotten men and women of our great state feel betrayed by our government and I’m with them. I feel the betrayal as well.”
Among the concerns, poll watchers were denied access and election software vendors refused to testify before the general assembly.
“Do we expect the people to trust their government,” Mastriano said. “Then we have to earn their trust. This is no game. Our very republic is at stake. This is our time to keep our republic.”
