Deadline Passes In GOP's Election 'Investigation' Subpoena
Source: KDKA CBS2 Pittsburgh
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) The deadline passed Friday for Gov. Tom Wolfs administration to comply with a subpoena from a Republican-controlled state Senate committee pursuing what the GOP calls a forensic investigation of last years presidential election, as a state court sorted through three legal challenges. Wolfs administration and Senate Republicans remained silent in the matter Friday. The court was expected to set up an expedited briefing schedule in one or all of the cases.
Challengers, including Senate Democrats and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, have sought broadly to block the subpoena, saying it is an abuse of legislative power, and in particular have challenged its request for the drivers license numbers and partial Social Security numbers of roughly 9 million registered voters. Republicans maintain that they are attempting to find and fix problems in last years presidential election and this years primary election. Democrats accuse them of helping perpetuate baseless claims that former President Donald Trump was cheated out of victory.Its not clear whether Wolfs administration can be forced to comply with a Senate subpoena.
The subpoena comes as Trump and his allies pressure battleground states to investigate ballots, voting machines and voter rolls for fraud. Democrats say it is part of a national campaign to take away voting rights and undermine both democracy and elections. Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump in Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes, according to certified results. Approved two weeks ago, the subpoena seeks detailed state election records, including communication with counties and the names of who voted in last years presidential election, their birth date, address, drivers license number and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The subpoena stops short of requesting ballots and voting machines, as was done in Arizonas widely discredited and partisan audit, and the majority of the information being requested is already available to the public, Shapiro has said.Raff Donelson, an associate professor of law at Penn States Dickinson Law School, said the strongest legal objection appears to be the claim around private information, such as drivers license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Pennsylvania law prohibits the release of that information, which is required of voters when they register, and Donelson said case law in Pennsylvania requires proof of probable cause for the government to get private information.
Read more: https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/10/04/deadline-passes-in-gops-election-investigation-subpoena/
This is supposed to be expedited so hopefully this crap will end post haste.
bucolic_frolic
(43,115 posts)Fullduplexxx
(7,851 posts)Really?
BumRushDaShow
(128,711 posts)with respect to the PA state Constitution. There is no "probable cause" for their bullshit and everything else, in terms of "publicly releasable voter data" can be obtained from the state for a fee of 20 bucks - https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/purchasepafullvoterexport.aspx
BelieveCassandra
(39 posts)requires a matching of drivers license/SS numbers between a voter's registration, vote-by-mail application, and
the returned ballot. If the #'s match, and the signature does not, it is treated as a valid returned ballot.
I realize PA is not TX, but this does make me wonder what the R's are really up to.
bucolic_frolic
(43,115 posts)I wonder if they grease the wheels of their own in every way they can. As I understand this fraudit will be funded by the state. Those dollars will go to consultants the Republicans choose. Millions for firm(s) in the voting industry, which can be donated back to Republicans. This is not so much a fraudit as it is political highway robbery.