Trump allies in Pennsylvania push for Arizona-style audit of 2020 election Reuters

By Nathan Lane

(Reuters)-The Pennsylvania Republican Congressman, an ally of former President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that he would try to investigate the 2020 election in the battlefield state, even though a state agency urged counties not to follow its so-called voting process. “False review”.

In parallel with the ongoing controversial audit in Arizona, State Senator Doug Mastriano stated that he sent a letter to “several counties” seeking a review of the November presidential election. Information needed for the “forensic investigation” in the municipal primary election in May this year.

Mastiano has repeatedly reiterated Trump’s baseless claims about widespread fraud in the presidential election. In a statement, he stated that the investigation is necessary because millions of Pennsylvania residents doubt the 2020 election. The authenticity of the results.

Democratic President Joe Biden won about 81,000 votes, and Trump won the country four years after Trump’s victory, which helped Republicans become chairman.

York County and Philadelphia, the state’s most populous county, confirmed receipt of the information request, but did not say whether they intend to comply. A spokesperson for Allegheny County, including Pittsburgh, said that no such request has been received.

It is unclear whether Mastriano has the support of the Republican leadership. He stated that he was authorized to investigate as the chairman of the State Senate’s Intergovernmental Action Committee in an attempt to force the counties to surrender information.

In a statement, the Pennsylvania State Department told the counties not to participate and warned that any transferred election machines would need to be replaced with new equipment—a recognition of the expenses incurred by the Arizona audit.

The statement said: “The State Council encourages counties to refuse to participate in any false reviews of past elections. These reviews will require counties to violate the trust of voters and disregard their legal obligations to protect ballots and the chain of custody of voting equipment,” said.

Mastiano is seen as a contender for the governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, and he has built a growing base of support among conservatives, in part because of propagating baseless claims about the election.

He presided over the hearing for the 2020 election in Gettysburg in November, during which Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani issued a series of unfounded statements about fraud. Mastriano also participated in the Trump rally in Washington on January 6, which was held before the fatal attack on the U.S. Capitol, but he condemned the violence.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa and State Senator Anthony Williams wrote to Republican leaders, arguing that it is the state government committee’s authority to monitor elections, not Chairman Mastriano’s committee.

They accused Mastroiano of “undermining and politicizing committee procedures due to the whim of former President Donald Trump” and called on Senate President Pro Tempore Jack Coleman and Senate Majority Leader King Ward to end this Hard work.

Coleman and Ward could not be reached for comment.