Montco Legislators United Against Proposed 'Election Commission'

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — State legislators from both sides of the aisle in Montgomery County are united in opposition to a newly proposed bill which would create a five-person "election commission" to review the conduct of the 2020 election.

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 does not preclude the commission from starting its work before Election Day on Nov. 3. 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.

"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 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. None of the committee Republicans who voted for the bill are from southeastern Pennsylvania.

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.

Other Montgomery County state legislators 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.

Some local Republicans concurred.

“I oppose the legislation as currently drafted," State Rep. Todd Stephens (R-151) said. "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."

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