Area lawmakers face off on GOP letter calling for Congress to reject Pa. election results

Area lawmakers face off on GOP letter calling for Congress to reject Pa. election results

By Ben Stemrich

December 8, 2020

More than 60 republicans from Pennsylvania, including the statehouse leaders, have signed a letter calling for Congress to reject the state’s electoral college results.

They’re claiming that state officials and the Pennsylvania supreme court undermined mail-in votes and that an independent audit is needed. 

Republican House Representative Doyle Hefley of Carbon County signed the letter. He says he’s not claiming mass fraud, he just wants to make sure state laws are followed.

“Carbon County has certified the vote to my understanding, the governor and the secretary have certified it. I think they should have done an audit ahead of time. I think they did it prematurely, I think they should have done the audit ahead of time. That’s what we’re calling for…”

Specifically, an independent audit…but Democratic State Representative Mike Schlossberg of Lehigh County says that’s not the real goal.

“They’re saying to members of congress, object to the results because we don’t believe them to be legitimate. The question to those 61 members is very simple: are you going to get sworn in on January 5th? Because if you are going to be sworn in on January 5th, then clearly you believe there is some legitimacy in the election results otherwise you’re guilty of massive hypocrisy…”

The letter appears unlikely to succeed at challenging the state’s electoral votes.

In the meantime, the state is already planning an audit. That’s set to take place sometime in January.

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