PA County Conducting Recount Of 2020 Election

BUTLER COUNTY, PA — As long since debunked claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election continue to bubble to the surface, Butler County is holding a spot recount of votes in the transformational election in what they say is an effort to audit its security.

Critics say the move is a waste of taxpayer money and resources.

“It’s been nearly two years since the 2020 election," the Department of State said in a statement. "And continued efforts to question the results and ultimately the will of Pennsylvania voters only contribute to sowing distrust in our system and further the dangerous conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election."

The audit comes just as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the legality of Act 77, the no excuse mail-in voting law that was passed with bipartisan support in 2019 and facilitated a quick transition to post-pandemic voting in 2020. The law had been declared unconstitutional by Republican judges in a lower Commonwealth Court back in February.

RELATED: PA Mail-In Voting Law Upheld By State Supreme Court

Butler County Commissioners chose three precincts at random in which to conduct their recount. It's not yet clear how long the recount will take.

Butler Radio reports that the county will complete the recount by hand, and rescan individual ballots to compare the results to the official 2020 election results. Commissioners say they want to find out how long it will take them to count ballots by hand, citing requests from local residents to do only hand counts in future elections.

The Department of State noted that they had already completed a recount back in 2020 that looked for discrepancies and any signs of fraud.