Court sides with PA over county’s handling of voting machines after 2020 election
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania court ruled 6-1 on Tuesday that the secretary of state has the authority to order counties not to allow “unauthorized third-party access” to voting machines or risk having those machines decertified and incapacitated. are used for elections.
That’s what the Commonwealth Court said the Department of State won’t have to reimburse counties when they decertify machines, a defeat for Fulton County in a dispute that arose after two Republican county commissioners fired Wake Technology Services Inc. had given permission to investigate and obtain data from Dominion voting machines in 2021.
That prompted the state elections office to issue a directive against such third-party access, based on concerns that it could compromise security. Fulton’s machines were decertified as a result of the Wake TSI investigation and the Secretary of State was sued by the province as well as Republican county commissioners Randy Bunch and Stuart Ulsh.
Fulton had argued that it had broad control over voting machines, while the secretary of state said this “would mean that any county election board can do whatever it wants” with electronic voting systems under their authority to inspect elections, “an absurd and unreasonable situation’. result,” Justice Renee Cohn Jubelirer wrote for the majority.
She said a 1937 state election law gave county election boards broad power, but state lawmakers amended that law “to give the secretary an important role in ensuring statewide consistency and security” regarding electronic voting systems. The state and local balance of power over elections and voting equipment, the majority said, helps “protect and provide free, fair, and secure elections.”
“There is no conflict between these provisions, and it is entirely possible — and even necessary — for election boards to fulfill their powers and duties while following the Secretary’s report and directives,” Jubelirer wrote for the majority.
The State Department said in a statement that it was pleased with the decision and that the administration of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro “is committed to ensuring the free and secure conduct of the elections, and today’s decision recognizes that the secretary is authorized to maintain the voting systems.” protected from unauthorized third parties seeking to undermine confidence in Pennsylvania elections.”
The Fulton County Board, through Chief Clerk Stacey Shives, declined comment on the decision. Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for Fulton County attorneys Tom Carroll and Jim Stein.
Officials in Fulton, a county of 15,000 in rural central Pennsylvania, called in Wake TSI and allowed another external inspection as part of an effort to find the species election fraud which then-President Donald Trump falsely claimed existed after his 2020 re-election loss. Fulton strongly supported Trump in all three of his presidential campaigns. Ulsh is no longer an elected county commissioner.
Fulton replaced the voting machines, which were seized by the court during the dispute over allowing others to access them.