[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5873-H5874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS CONCERNED ABOUT VOTING IRREGULARITIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, many of the voters in Pennsylvania and in my 
district are rightfully upset and concerned about the irregular actions 
which occurred in the past election. There are valid reasons for the 
collective feeling of disenfranchisement and of distrust stemming from 
various election processes and procedural changes which were outside of 
statute.
  Thousands--no--millions in Pennsylvania have a feeling of intense 
frustration and believe that their constitutional rights have been 
violated. To start, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a 3-day 
extension for late-arriving ballots, usurping the authority of the 
State legislature and contradicting the U.S. Constitution, which 
clearly states: ``The times, places, and manner of holding elections 
shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof.''
  These constitutional authorities are not fair-weather laws, despite 
the challenges posed by the pandemic. The highly irregular actions of 
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court resulted in the unlawful counting of 
over 10,000 ballots that arrived after the statutory required time of 8 
p.m. on election day--nobody disputes this--mitigating an accurate 
ballot count and, at the same time, fueling great distrust in the 
process.
  Second, there are serious disputes over how individual mail-in 
ballots with technical errors were handled across the Commonwealth. 
Pennsylvania State law dictates that mail-in

[[Page H5874]]

ballots must be signed, dated, and included in a secrecy envelope, and 
that ballots that are missing required information and/or signatures 
should be disqualified or, at a minimum, authenticated.
  Just hours before polls opened, the secretary of state of 
Pennsylvania issued inconsistent and contradictory guidance, giving 
Pennsylvania counties the authority to decide whether to reject ballots 
that contained discrepancies or take additional measures to correct 
them. This happened. This is a highly irregular thing to do.
  As a result, Philadelphia, Montgomery, Allegheny, and Bucks County, 
four of the largest counties in Pennsylvania, allowed literally 
thousands and thousands of ballots to be fixed or cured, a measure not 
pursued by most other counties and which violated State election law.
  Third, Republican poll watchers in Philadelphia were kept at an 
unreasonable distance to observe the pre-canvassing and canvassing of 
ballots. Even after a court ruling allowed poll watchers closer access, 
Philadelphia officials actually appealed the order to the Pennsylvania 
Supreme Court.
  Why would local election officials make the process blatantly more 
restrictive to poll watchers, some of whom resorted to using binoculars 
to do their jobs?
  This, too, actually happened. An estimated 687,000 ballots were 
counted during this time of no lawfully required poll watchers. Such 
actions, Mr. Speaker, raise very legitimate doubts surrounding 
transparency and accountability of Presidential election.
  Further adding to the frustration and distrust felt by millions in 
Pennsylvania, the media projected the outcome while such valid disputes 
were outstanding before due process took place and well before judicial 
rulings were made.
  In Pennsylvania, the cases before the courts could involve tens of 
thousands of ballots, of votes, an amount, if deemed unlawful, would 
mandate an automatic recount. In a close election, counting all legal 
votes takes time, yet it is absolutely essential to assure to a 
candidate, but more so to the voters, that the vote count be honest, 
lawful, and fair.

  The implications for our country are significant now and beyond 2020. 
Along with a fair election of the United States of America President, 
what is at stake here is the integrity of our election process and the 
faith the American people have in it.

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