New report: 36 officials in 22 Pa. counties could pose election threat
A new report identifies 36 local officials in 22 counties across Pennsylvania who exhibited “anti-democratic” tendencies during the 2022 midterm cycle, and who could pose a similar threat in elections to come.
All told, the report by Informing Democracy, a new nonprofit group whose ranks include former staffers of President Joe Biden’s, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s, D-N.J., presidential campaigns, and other “election professionals, researchers, and lawyers,” identifies 200 state and local election officials nationwide.
The Pennsylvania officials identified in the report include Allegheny County Councilor Sam DeMarco, whose name appeared on a fake slate of pro-Donald Trump electors; Berks County Commissioners Christian Leinbach and Michael Rivera, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko, Fulton County Commissioner Stuart Ulsh, and others.
“This report shines a floodlight on the wave of state and local officials counting our ballots and writing our election laws who harbor anti-democratic tendencies— and it shows just how big a threat they pose to future elections,” the group’s executive director, Jenna Lowenstein, said in a statement.
“While the vast majority of elections are well organized and well run by dedicated public servants, it’s critical that the public and the press see how this poisonous, anti-democratic trend is spreading across the country. This encyclopedia of election deniers is a warning and a must-use resource for those seeking to hold officials accountable for their previous attacks on our democracy and for those defending it from future threats,” Lowenstein, who managed U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy’s, D-Conn., 2018 re-election campaign, continued.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/government-politics/new-report-36-officials-in-22-pa-counties-could-pose-election-threat-five-for-the-weekend/
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