PENNSYLVANIA, USA — State Senate Republican leaders Pre Tempore Joe Scarnati and Majority Leader Jake Corman are calling for Department of State Sec. Kathy Boockvar to resign. They say this after numerous actions to, "undermine public confidence in Pennsylvania's elections."
They say, twice in the last two days, Sec. Boockvar has fundamentally changed the manner in which Pennsylvania's election is being conducted. They say, last week she told the U.S. Supreme Court that ballots received after 8 p.m. on November 3rd would be segregated, but changed that guidance on Nov. 1st and directed counties to canvas those ballots as soon as possible once receiving them.
However, the guidance issued by the U.S. Supreme Court only mentioned the state to segregate those ballots, but did not say they could not be counted:
"Although the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected Petitioner’s request for that relief, we have been informed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General that the Secretary of the Commonwealth issued guidance today directing county boards of elections to segregate ballots received between 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2020, and 5:00 p.m. on November 6, 2020. Nothing in the Court’s order today precludes Petitioner from applying to this Court for relief if, for some reason, it is not satisfied with the Secretary’s guidance."
Senate republican leadership also allege, a day before the election, the DOS provided last minute guidance directing counties to provide information to help voter's who's mail-in or absentee ballots were incorrectly completed so, those voters could vote by provisional ballots.
In a joint statement released by Senate Pro-Tempore Joe Scarnati and Majority Leader Jake Corman, they say:
"As leaders, we simply cannot stand by and allow Kathy Boockvar's blatant disregard for the legislative process and the law to continue. In order for trust to be restored to the Pennsylvania election system, Kathy Boockvar must resign as Secretary of State in Pennsylvania following these most recent efforts to weaken the state's voting system and damage the integrity and confidence in our elections."
However, Sec. Boockvar says, she has no intention of resigning. "Well, I have no intent to resign and I disagree with everything that they say in their release," said Sec. Boockvar. "Frankly I think that they're the ones who should resign for not having allowed Pennsylvania and this nation to start pre-canvassing ballots early, as forty-six other states across the country have done. We would be getting results a lot sooner if they had."
Wednesday morning, Gov. Wolf is supporting Sec. Boockvar calling this a partisan attack on Pennsylvania's elections and our votes.
In a statement, Gov. Wolf said:
"Attacks like this are an attempt to undermine confidence in the results of the election, and we should all denounce them for the undemocratic actions they are. I support our Secretary of State and all of our state and local election officials who are working hard to deliver timely, accurate results and ensure that everyone's vote is counted and protected."
State officials are predicting the majority of ballots will be counted within a few days.