A key GOP lawmaker says PA counties aren’t going to be getting the two things they’ve been calling for: earlier processing of mail ballots and more realistic deadlines.
“It is over until we get a new governor. We have learned our lesson,” said Grove, the chair of the House State Government Committee, after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed his HB1300.
“Counties are just going to have to deal with it,” he said.
Grove said counties should have been more open to other changes Republicans wanted: “They got everything they wanted, and their only comment was, ‘Well, that’s nice, but we just want these two things.’ Well, that doesn’t work. Nor do we have the votes for your two little things.”
“They should have been a lot more supportive of [the bill], and now they’re not going to get anything they want,” Grove said. “And that’s on them.”
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“One of the frustrations for me as a political scientist who thinks of himself as caring deeply about causal effects [is] it bothers me that so many social scientists treat this topic as if it’s like everything else that we’ve studied,” Jefferson said.
“In a democracy, the right to vote is sacred,” @hakeemjefferson said, adding that “we should simply be bothered by the burden placed on voters, period, irrespective of whether the thing works or not, whether the restrictive voting law works to suppress turnout.”
PA State Sen. Doug Mastriano is asking three counties, including Philly, for essentially all election-related equipment and ballots as part of a “forensic investigation” into the 2020 election and 2021 primary.
Mastriano’s sprawling requests include stuff like all ballots; mail ballot applications; mail ballot envelopes; voting machines; ballot scanners and vote-counting equipment; ballot production equipment; poll books; computer logs; computer equipment used through election process.
Among the things to watch: Election preparation begins looooong before Election Day.
If an “audit” takes months (think Arizona), that would significantly disrupt a county’s ability to run an election.
As the voter ID fight once again takes center stage in PA, you’ll probably hear a lot of competing claims.
Here are some key things to know, including why it’s so complicated to know how voter ID affects turnout and whether that’s even the right measure: inquirer.com/politics/elect…
First thing to know: Significant voter fraud, especially voter impersonation, is virtually nonexistent.
“We have tremendous evidence that voter ID laws do absolutely nothing to prevent voter fraud, because there is no systematic voter fraud to prevent,” said @blfraga.
State Rep. Seth Grove (R., York), the author of HB1300, acknowledged the voter ID proposal wouldn’t address an existing problem — “It’s not to say that there has been any” fraud — but described the current rules as “a loophole that can be exploited” in the future.
Mathews’ ex-wife just called. Says he’s not racist but “he believes in freedom of speech” and “his mouth gets him in trouble, definitely … yes, he made some slurs, okay? Nobody’s perfect.”
“one of his best friends is Puerto Rican, from Camden, he’s got a lot of Black friends”
Mathews: “I know how it looks, and there is no justifying what I said, in any manner”
“I said the wrong thing. I don’t know, it is what it is. It’s almost like if I’m driving down the road and I’m drunk and I killed somebody, I didn’t mean to kill somebody”
Yes, counties that have been dealing with a flood of mail ballots, and running the election with humans, are still finalizing their updates to vote histories in SURE.
MY OWN vote history was only updated last week (12/28) by Philly elections officials.
Basically, in claiming there were 205K more votes than voters in Pennsylvania, you’re taking an incomplete dataset and being shocked that it is not complete.
PA Gov. Tom Wolf on PA GOP lawmakers planning to object:
“They claim to believe that Pennsylvania’s election was compromised and that our electoral votes are suspect. This, of course, is a shameful lie. The very democracy these lawmakers swore an oath to uphold is at risk here.”
PA Gov. Tom Wolf:
“The problem is these folks are not telling the truth. Because it’s a fact Pennsylvania had a fair and free election; it’s a fact that there was no fraud or illegal activity in Pennsylvania; it’s a fact that Joe Biden won the presidency.”
PA Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar:
“With everything our country and commonwealth has faced this year, we’re reminded more than ever why we must fight any effort to undermine our great democracy.”