Pennsylvania Republicans moved Wednesday to seek personal information about all voters in the state as part of a brewing partisan review of the 2020 election results, which printed more than a dozen citations for the numbers driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers.
The expansive request for personal information, addressed to the Pennsylvania State Department and approved in a Republican vote in a state Senate subcommittee, is the first major step in the election investigation. The move adds Pennsylvania to a growing list of states that have initiated reviews led by supporters of the 2020 election, including a widely criticized attempt to undermine the result in Arizona’s largest county.
Senate Democrats questioned whether the committee even had the authority to request this information, which state law generally protects from public disclosure, and denounced the investigation as partisan and unfounded.
Democrats control several of Pennsylvania’s top offices, including those of governor, attorney general and secretary of state, and it was not immediately known what legal basis they might have to challenge the summonses or whether they would. Nor was it clear how the transfer of information would begin to occur, if it occurs. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment or issue a statement on the subpoena.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf denounced the citations and the investigation as “another step in undermining democracy, confidence in our elections and capitulating to Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.” He pledged to “strongly oppose any effort that compromises the security and integrity of election materials, infrastructure and personal information of Pennsylvania voters.”
The citations, 17 in all, also included a request for communications between state and county election officials. They did not include requests for election machines or equipment.
Republicans in several states have conducted similar reviews (deceptively labeled “audits” to suggest authoritarian nonpartisan investigation) in the name of protecting “electoral integrity.” Reviews have often focused on baseless claims and discredited conspiracy theories about the presidential contest, spurred in part by the falsehoods promoted by former President Donald J. Trump and his allies.
President Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes, and the results have been reaffirmed by the state Department of State.
“All of our proceedings today, which issue subpoenas, are based on such an incredible foundation,” said Anthony H. Williams, a Democratic state senator representing an area near Philadelphia. He added that it was “very worrying and in fact leads us to darker days in this country, such as when hearings like this were held, during the McCarthy era, where voices were silenced and liberties denied, being harassed by government power. “
State Sen. Jake Corman, the top Republican in the House, who passed the review last month, portrayed the investigation as simply trying to inform future legislation and attacked Democrats, asking them why. the “scared.”
“All we do is look for facts, look for information, so we can make better public policies,” Corman said.
When Democrats asked her why information on social security and voters ’driver’s licenses was needed for the investigation, State Sen. Cris Dush, who is leading the review as chair of the committee ‘government operations, filed unspecified and unfounded claims by ineligible voters voting in the Pennsylvania election.
“Because there have been questions about the validity of the people who have voted, whether they exist or not,” Dush said. “Again, we are not responding to the proven allegations. We are investigating the allegations to determine whether or not they are made.”
He continued: “If we have the sum errors within the voter registration system that allow this activity, we have a responsibility, as a legislature, to create legislation that will prevent this from happening in future elections.”
One of the main concerns of Democrats, beyond citations, was that individuals or businesses could access the personal information reserve of the nearly seven million Pennsylvania voters who voted in the 2020 election.
State Senator Steven J. Santarsiero, a Democrat from the suburbs of Philadelphia, put pressure on Mr. Dush in his selection process. Santarsiero specifically asked if any of the vendors he considers Republicans have ties to Sidney Powell, the lawyer who has popularized many false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
“The answer to that is that I don’t really know, because it’s not something relevant to my determination,” Dush replied.
“So it’s possible, then?” Asked Mr. Santarsiero.
“It’s absolutely possible,” Dush said.