By Marley Parish & Stephen Caruso | Pennsylvania Capital-Star
A Republican state senator close to former President Donald Trump has announced he will pursue a legislative audit of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.
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Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, said Wednesday that he had sent letters to “several counties” asking for “information and materials” needed to conduct a “forensic investigation” of the 2020 general election and the 2021 primary.
“This investigation is not about overturning the results of either election,” he wrote in an opinion piece sent to Pennsylvania news outlets. “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.”
Mastriano, who has promoted false claims of a stolen election, did not respond to a request for comment.
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In the op-Ed, the central Pennsylvania lawmaker did not specify which counties he had requested information from. The counties also represent “different geographical regions” and “differing political makeups,” Mastriano said in the opinion piece. He added that it will be a “balanced investigation.”
*At least two counties have confirmed they received a letter from Mastriano: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city and a Democratic stronghold, as well as York County, a large, reliably Republican county in south-central Pennsylvania.
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The Associated Press reported Wednesday that a third letter had been sent to Tioga County, a rural Republican stronghold.
Tioga County Commissioner Roger C. Bunn, a Republican, told the Associated Press he had just received an email with Mastriano’s requests and planned to get input from the board’s lawyer and the elections director before he and the other two commissioners decide how to respond.
“I certainly want our elections to be fair and honest,” Bunn told the Associated Press. “So we’ll see what they’re requesting and what we can do.”
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The letter states that legislative changes to the election code, the COVID-19 pandemic, state Supreme Court rulings and actions by former Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar “presented unprecedented challenges” and “combined to cause a great burden on counties and county officials during the general election cycle.”
“The damage to the integrity and confidence in our election process will not be undone with the passing of time,” the letter continues. “I believe the only way to restore confidence in our Commonwealth‘s election process is to undertake a forensic investigation of the election results. By doing this, faith in our election system will be restored.”
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The letter requests that York County turnover potentially hundreds of thousands of items, including all ballots cast in the 2020 election, voter rolls, ballot paper samples, cybersecurity protocols, software used through the election process, and the machines used to tabulate results, among others.
Mastriano set a July 31 deadline for the counties to respond with a plan to comply. A subpoena may be issued if a plan to comply with the documents request is not returned by the deadline, the letter says.
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A spokesperson for York County declined further comment besides confirming they had received the letter.
Mastriano is the chairman of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, a seldom-used committee that typically does not handle election issues. It had only met once this year before Mastriano’s announcement.
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Mastriano also chaired the committee during the 2019-20 session, and the committee met just three times, holding votes on regulatory issues. Though unmentioned in Mastriano’s release, all Senate committees have subpoena power. A subpoena would require a committee vote.
The audit comes after a months-long campaign by Trump, who amped up baseless claims of voter fraud after his loss in the 2020 election. Trump has pushed for similar audits to be conducted in swing states across the country.
In May, Mastriano joined by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin, and Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, toured the Arizona facility where a GOP-backed audit was being conducted.
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“The damage to our election process will not be undone with the passing of time. I believe the only way to restore confidence in our commonwealth’s election process is to undertake a forensic investigation. By doing this, faith in our election system will be restored,” Mastriano said.
He added: “The people of our commonwealth should have confidence that their vote counts. It takes accountability and transparency to ensure that our elections are free and fair.”
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First elected in a 2019 special election, Mastriano has built a reputation as a popular grassroots conservative for his vocal opposition to Gov. Tom Wolf during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also was among Trump’s loudest supporters as the former president cast doubt in the 2020 election.
Mastriano was photographed outside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection, but has said that he did not participate.
Mastriano requested a taxpayer-funded hearing on election fraud in Gettysburg last November that featured Trump attorney Rudy Guiliani. He also attended the Jan. 6 rally that ended with the storming of the U.S. Capitol, although Mastriano said he did not enter the building.
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Mastriano has also taken steps to run for governor, including holding small, grassroots events across the state. He’s also claimed Trump has encouraged him to run, a claim Trump’s own advisers have pushed back on.
*In a letter sent Wednesday to Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, and Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, and Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, asked the GOP lawmakers to “end this misguided and political farce immediately.”
Costa and Williams questioned the Intergovernmental Operations Committee’s authority to conduct an investigation, saying that the Senate State Government Committee has oversight over elections and the Department of State. They also said Mastriano has compromised the investigation by “politicizing it for the whims” of Trump and said another review of election results would be a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
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“Should you allow this to continue, Sen. Mastriano will have built a Frankenstein creation of a committee with limitless power, frighteningly controlled by a senator intent on tainting every level of our government,” they wrote.
Costa and Williams added: “It’s time for us to look forward and restore faith in our processes — faith that has been damaged by the behavior of your own party, without merit or fact. We can work together again, but we must start now.”
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