A directive from Pennsylvania Department of State, released on July 9, states that the country boards of elections ‘shall not provide any access to third parties that are seeking to examine the system or system components.
Sanctions were levied for failure to comply: The voting equipment will no longer be considered secure or reliable to use in subsequent elections and the department will withdraw their certification for the equipment.
The acting Secretary of State, Veronica Degraffenreid appointed in February Dem. Gov. Tom Wolf, outlined his reasons for the directive:
“Such access by third parties undermines chain of custody requirements and strict access limitations necessary to prevent both intentional and inadvertent tampering with electronic voting systems. It also jeopardizes the security and integrity of the systems and will prevent electronic voting system vendors from affirming that the systems continue to meet Commonwealth security standards and U.S. Election Assistance Commission certification.”
Pennsylvanian Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, a republican, in responding to the directive said that the directive “is an attack on the General Assembly’s power to review, investigate, and legislate in matters within its legislative authority, which includes Pennsylvania’s election system.”
Mastriano, a republican state Senate, added the directive an example of a disturbing pattern of the powers of the Senate. He also triggered a probe into the elections citing the abnormalities including how the number of mail in ballots jumped over two million compared to four years prior and acceptance of ballot that arrived after Election Day..
