Mastriano Calls For Pa. Election Audit After Touring Arizona Facility

By Marley Parish, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

June 06, 2021

After touring an Arizona facility where a technology firm — with no experience conducting election audits — is reviewing the 2020 election, Sen. Doug Mastriano thinks Pennsylvania should follow suit.

“We can’t stand aside. Once again, we were all for transparency. Right? Well, there should be transparency, especially in elections,” Mastriano, R-Franklin, told the far-right One America News Network on Wednesday. “I told you before, Pennsylvania should be the model of free and fair elections, and instead, we’re a laughingstock.”

There has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 general election, but Republican lawmakers have continued to cast doubt on election integrity — citing “irregularities.” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin, and state Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, joined Mastriano in Arizona, where the GOP-controlled Senate ordered the review of 2.1 million ballots in February.

This audit marks the second time ballots in Maricopa County, where President Joe Biden won by more than 45,000 votes, have been reviewed. After the election, the county conducted a hand count audit of sample ballots and hired independent firms to conduct a forensic audit or tabulation equipment. The county found no abnormalities.

The most recent review follows a months-long campaign from former Republican President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election results and has come under fire for its credibility.

Audit the Vote PA, a group that repeats false claims, organized a petition, asking lawmakers to investigate the election. More than 65,000 people have signed it.

Mastriano, who attended the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, and appears to have crossed police lines the day of the Capitol riot, has repeated those false allegations. But he has only called for an audit of the 2020 election — not the most recent May 18 primary.

All three Pennsylvania lawmakers signed a letter in December, asking federal representatives to object to certifying Pennsylvania’s Electoral College results.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf called the trip to Arizona “an insult” to county election workers and Pennsylvania voters. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, described the Arizona review as a “sham” and said the three state lawmakers are “a danger to voters in both our states.”

“The fact is, these PA GOP conspiracy theorists would rather travel across the country in service of the ‘Big Lie’ than tell the truth to Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro wrote in a tweet. “I think that says it all.”

But Mastriano told OAN the trip wasn’t political. Instead, he said it was educational and gave him an idea of what he thinks needs to happen in Pennsylvania before lawmakers can effectively change election law. Dush told a pool reporter on Wednesday that he “without question” and “absolutely” would support an audit of the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania.

During the interview, Mastriano said he recently spoke to Sen. Patrick Stefano, R-Fayette, about potential reform circulating in Harrisburg. Stefano, who recently announced plans to introduce legislation that would repeal Act 77 — a bipartisan election reform bill — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A 99-page report released in May by House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove, R-York, calls for voter ID, earlier deadlines for registration, and signature verification on all mail-in ballots. Other proposals include suspending mail-in voting until 2023 or until lawmakers can improve voting law.

Local and state elections officials have instead asked for more time to process mail-in ballots and an extension on the deadline to request one.

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