The request for forensic materials has started a battle of authority between the Intergovernmental Operations Committee (IOC), the Counties, and the Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS). In early July, UncoverDC reported Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano and the IOC requested information and materials from Philadelphia, York, and Tioga counties to conduct a forensic investigation.

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The July 7 letter sent to Philadelphia County is now available in the public domain and includes an Exhibit A that reveals what information and materials really mean. Here is a list of just some of the materials requested from the counties by the IOC in Exhibit A:

• A complete end-to-end election setup for use in a laboratory that includes all the equipment necessary to simulate an election and recreate the precise scenarios of election day in 2020.
• Voter rolls, registration information of voters who voted, including daily and cumulative voter records.
• All ballot production, processing, and tabulation equipment.
• Paper samples from all ballot paper that was used.
• All ballots cast or attempted to [be] cast during the 2020 General.
• Envelopes, request forms, reports on rejected ballots, training materials, poll books, instruction manuals.
• Election settings logs and reports, configuration files, usernames, and passwords…

Secretary of State Veronica W. Degraffenreid of the DOS issued her first and only directive of the year thus far, the very next day after Mastriano’s July 7 letter was sent. It directed that counties “shall not provide physical, electronic, or internal access” to voting systems by “third parties seeking to copy and/or conduct an examination.”…

On July 29, a formal response to Mastriano’s request came from Tioga County solicitor Christopher P. Gabriel. The letter directly cited the Secretary of State’s directive and said:

“We have a responsibility to ensure that our voters can vote in the Fall. If we give you access to our machines, the Secretary of State will decertify them as she did in Fulton County. We are thus unable to grant you access to our machines without any help from you or the Senate to replace them…”…

Solicitor Gabriel clarifies conditions needed for Tioga County to comply with the IOC request:

“We are therefore not refusing to cooperate with your effort to audit the machines as many have said. We have instead made clear through our Senator, Cris Dush, that we would cooperate in any such effort so long as you could provide us funds to have new machines in place in time for the Fall election.“…

Philadelphia Commissioner Lisa Deeley sent a letter on July 30, similar to the one from Tioga County on behalf of the Philadelphia Board of Election of Philadelphia County…

Mastriano says the actions by the Secretary of State are attempts to “threaten and bully” the counties and says he will request that the IOC issue subpoenas to the counties. This protects them by making the compliance legally compelled, rather than voluntary and in breach of Degraffenreid’s directive…

Mastriano was quoted on Tuesday as saying the battle may end up in court, and that he expects to win if the question is whether the IOC has authority to subpoena. He went on to say, however, “If the challenge becomes something else, obviously that will drag out in court. So a judge, in the end, will have to decide any debates that we have between the counties and myself.”…

Share your prayer for Pennsylvania’s forensic vote audit to move forward and uncover what needs to be revealed!

(Excerpt from Uncoverdc. Article by John B. Nevin. Photo Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images).