Boyle: House Republicans’ latest baseless attempt to sow doubt in the election process and delay certification of election results ‘shameful’

HARRISBURG, Nov. 10 – State Rep. Kevin Boyle, Democratic chairman of the House State Government Committee, denounced the partisan posturing House Republicans exhibited Tuesday morning when they called for an investigative committee with subpoena power to audit the election process in Pennsylvania, while admitting they have no evidence of any wrongdoing or impropriety. 

“If you want to ensure that the election process here in Pennsylvania is fair and free, you can start by not sowing doubt and discord without evidence of any wrongdoing,” Boyle said. 

“President Donald Trump started calling our election process into question while votes cast on or before Election Day were still being tallied because he didn’t like the trend in those results,” Boyle said. “He wanted some states where the early results showed him in the lead to stop counting, and he wanted other states where the tally of votes showed him falling behind, to count every last vote. But free and fair elections aren’t conducted on the whim of the president. Regardless of who is leading at any given moment, in free and fair elections every single vote cast in accordance with our laws, on or before Election Day, gets counted. And that is exactly what happened in Pennsylvania. Just because Donald Trump or the GOP doesn’t like the result, it doesn’t give them carte blanche to change the rules or create workarounds to get their own way.” 

On Tuesday morning, House Republicans held a news conference where state Rep. Dawn Keefer, who represents parts of York and Cumberland counties, called for the creation of a committee with subpoena power to investigate the election process in Pennsylvania. 

“Faith in government begins with faith in the elections which select that government,” Keefer said. But, Boyle questioned, “How can the American people, the people of Pennsylvania, have confidence in a system when they see their elected leaders calling the process into question before it even starts? 

“It seems the attempt to sow discord in our elections is very deliberate and was premeditated,” Boyle said. “Consider that I and many of my Democratic colleagues pleaded with the Republicans who control the House and Senate to allow the preparation or pre-canvassing of mail-in and absentee ballots prior to Election Day, so that the election results could be known earlier. But the Republican leadership refused to allow that to happen. And then, when the results of the election took time to tally, Republican leadership like Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff tried to manipulate the public by saying in a tweet that it was a failure by Democrats. That is quite simply a lie. We did everything in our power to get counties the additional time they needed. The Republican majority initially offered 21 days in H.B. 2626, before they themselves amended the bill and took that vital pre-canvassing time away from counties. Their failure to act has engineered this crisis.” 

During Tuesday’s news conference, Keefer said that her office and the offices of many of her Republican colleagues had “been overwhelmed with calls and emails and other messages from constituents who are confused and outraged about the circumstances surrounding this election.” But in response to a question from a reporter asking if there are any clear indications or evidence that fraud was committed, Keefer responded “we’ve gotten a lot of allegations” but was unable to point to any proof or specific instances. Elections throughout Pennsylvania and the counting of ballots are overseen by members of both political parties. 

Boyle said misleading the public by making allegations without proof is wrong. 

“To put it very simply, this attempt to undermine the integrity of our elections without any evidence is shameful,” Boyle said. “I will continue to speak out anytime anyone tries to call the integrity of our elections into question without proof.”