PA Election Commission: What To Know About Controversial Proposal

PENNSYLVANIA — A controversial Pennsylvania bill which would create a five-person "election commission" to review the conduct of the 2020 election is drawing ire from both sides of the aisle.

The bill recently passed through committee and onto the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Republican creators of the bill say that it's a way to uncover issues and learn from any mistakes made after the fact. Opponents, however, say that the language is (perhaps purposefully) unclear and could undermine the results of the election.

"Pennsylvanians deserve to have their vote counted as they cast it, not decided by five individuals of a 203-member legislative body, five individuals who would effectively speak for over 12 million residents of this commonwealth," State Rep. Melissa Shusterman (D-151) said.

The commission, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats from the state House of Representatives, would have the power to subpoena both U.S. Postal Service employees and county election workers, critics say.

The bill was introduced into the legislature by Lycoming County's State Rep. Garth Everett (R-84), who chairs House State Government Committee. It passed through that committee by a 15-10 vote along party lines, and will now go to the House floor. It passed shortly before the House session was canceled due to a legislator testing positive for COVID-19.

Gov. Wolf alleged the bill, House Resolution 1032, was a part of a coordinated effort between certain House Republicans and President Trump to "put the results of the election in question."

"This is an unprecedented attack on non-partisan election administrators at a time when we should all be doing everything we can to instill confidence in our elections," Wolf added.

Further, the bill has again stoked concerns that in the event of a close election or any controversy over vote tabulation, Pennsylvania House Republicans might look to appoint electors themselves. The Atlantic first reported that the state GOP was considering such a measure in late September, an article which drew sharp condemnation from House Majority Leader Jake Corman.

"I have had zero contact with the Trump campaign or others about how PA chooses electors," Corman said on Twitter. The PA process as outlined in the Election Code does not involve the legislature."

It remains unclear what level of support the election commission might see on the state level, but there are Republicans who stand against it, too.

"I oppose the legislation as currently drafted," State Rep. Todd Stephens (R-151) told Patch. "We should not do anything that could disrupt the voting process or distract our local election officials from the task at hand - ensuring every vote cast is counted properly."

The nonpartisan Keystone Research Center said that the bill would allow the committee to have "practically unlimited funding and subpoena power."

"It could start calling state and county election officials in for questioning now, disrupting their efforts to prepare for the election—or after the election, undermining their effort to count votes," the organization wrote in a public letter. "It could hold public hearings right now that would raise doubts about the process of voting—or after the election, raising doubts about the fairness of counting votes."

Other critics noted that while they lauded efforts to improve the efficiency of elections, the open-ended language of the bill left things wide open to an abuse of power.

"It seeks to undermine the authority of county-level elections officials and the Department of State to administer safe, secure, and nonpartisan elections," State Rep. Liz Hanbidge (D-61) said.

Shusterman added that the "ill-timed" proposal comes in the midst of misinformation regarding the integrity of the election, and mail-in voting specifically.

Everett was adamant there was no such malintent or political scheming behind the move.

"People forget sometimes that the Legislature established the Election Code and how elections are conducted," Everett told the Lycoming County-based Williamsport Sun-Gazette Tuesday. "The Department of State doesn't do that. It's well within our authority to provide guidance going forward."

The Keystone Research Center said that if this was the case, changes needed to be made to the language of the bill to limit the committee's review process to the period after Dec. 14, which is when Pennsylvania's electors are chosen. The group also argued that a committee with such extensive powers should be made up of six members — three Democrats and three Republicans — to prevent partisan corruption.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is adjourned until Monday, Oct. 19 after a legislator tested positive for coronavirus last week.