By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times @mikemcgannpa
State Sen. Doug Mastriano is a lot of things.
An honest elected official trying to protect the vote is not one of them, however.
As proven by his stunt this week to “audit” three counties, Tioga, York and Philadelphia Mastriano is trying to claim there was some sort of voter fraud in 2020 that caused Joe Biden to win Pennsylvania in the presidential election.
This, of course, is an effort to kiss up to Donald Trump, as Mastriano wants to be governor and thinks a Trump endorsement will lock up the GOP nomination.
There is a laundry list of problems with this effort to wreak havoc on democracy in the commonwealth.
First, Mastriano is chair of the state Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee. Despite his specious claims, that senate committee does not have jurisdiction over elections in Pennsylvania. That jurisdiction falls under the State Government Committee.
Second, there have been audits, recounts and the like. Aside from a handful of cases of people trying to illegally to add extra votes for Trump, no widespread fraud or error has been found in Pennsylvania’s elections — this despite a pandemic and a state legislature that did everything in its power to sabotage the election and vote counting.
Third, Mastriano is a coward. York and Tioga are stalking horses to look at Philly’s vote and cost the city a ton of money in having to replace its entire election apparatus (if turned over to Mastriano, all if the equipment will be useless going forward, much of it practically new).
But worse: Biden didn’t win because of Philadelphia (he actually did somewhat worse there in 2020 than Hillary Clinton did in 2016). Trump lost Pennsylvania because he got his butt kicked in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, losing by much larger margins than he did in 2016.
Mastriano — who apparently is claiming there will be a second wave of counties called to provide information — knows pulling this crap in Chester County would mean county tax hikes, bad publicity and would doom any hope he has of running for statewide office. Spoiler alert: if somehow he wins the GOP nod for governor, he’ll lose the state badly, because like Trump, he’ll get wrecked here in the southeast.
Lastly, because of the breadth of Mastriano’s requests, there will be concerns about maintaining the privacy of the vote. Already in Arizona, there were initial plans to question individual voters on HOW they voted — a violation of voter privacy without U.S. precedent.
Imagine some lackey of Mastriano knocking on your door and demanding to know how you voted in 2020.
Let’s not forget — at minimum — Mastriano aided and abetted a number of people who invaded the U.S. Capitol in a literal attempt to overthrow the government on Jan. 6. Video evidence suggests he breached the barriers at the Capitol, although he continues to deny direct involvement in the greatest act of insurrection against the United States since the Civil War.
Mastriano has been at the center of pushing the Big Lie in Pennsylvania: Trump lost and lost pretty badly, but the disingenuous types in our state legislature continue to claim the vote was somehow cheated, despite the fact that same vote elected or reelected most of them.
Generally speaking, Republicans did pretty well on election night 2020 in Pennsylvania — it was just Trump who saw repudiation. If the vote were rigged, wouldn’t Democrats up and down the ballot have also won? Well, obviously.
In short, all of this is BS in service to fragile ego (and scammy fundraising needs) of one Donald John Trump. Not justice. Not election integrity. Just Trump’s hurt feelings. The irony is that even if Mastriano somehow pulls this off, Trump will leave him high and dry and likely back someone else for governor, another useful toy cast aside when no longer needed.
Rightfully, the Department of State told the counties to ignore Mastriano’s idiocy — or pay the cost of completely replacing their election equipment.
Should he somehow get a subpoena (questionable at best), it is highly likely the commonwealth’s courts will move to quash it.
It is sad to watch the Pennsylvania GOP engage in a suicide pact with Trump — with some of its most fact-free officials grabbing the limelight for personal, short-term gain.
