Pennsylvania State GOP Won’t Overrule Popular Vote

Republican leaders in the General Assembly confirmed Friday that a certified popular vote victory for Joe Biden will stand, despite rumors to the contrary still circulating on social media.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, and House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, told reporters that legislators care only that the state follows election law, no matter the outcome.

“Our role is to provide oversight,” Corman said. “Certainly, we want to stay with that tradition that the popular vote gets the electorate.”

“We have a member who won by one vote,” Cutler added. “We’ve had the majority in the House hinge on less than 30 votes. The process we had in place previously worked, we just wish it was followed this time.”

Cutler’s comments reference the Supreme Court ruling that allowed county election officials to tabulate ballots postmarked Tuesday and received through 5 p.m. Friday.

The leaders also remain critical of Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar for releasing contradictory guidance on the eve of the election that encouraged some counties to reach out to voters with invalid ballots to come fill out provisional ones instead. Corman called for Boockvar’s resignation just after the polls closed Tuesday, noting that the guidance isn’t supported by state law.

Cutler also asked for a full audit of the 2020 general election, just as he did for the primary conducted back in June.

“What we will do is we will follow the law,” Corman said. “That’s what we’ve asked for in this process all along.

Corman first addressed the rumors that the GOP-controlled Legislature would use their power to redirect Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes to President Donald Trump in the summer. He penned an op-ed with House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff in the Centre Daily Times, saying “the Pennsylvania General Assembly does not and will not have a hand in choosing the state’s presidential electors or in deciding the outcome of the presidential election.”

See also:

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When Do We Find Out Who Won The 2020 Election?

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