昨天早上响应中坛朋友的建议给宾州所有共和党senators和representatives发了邮件。下午就收到了我们这个区一位女议员的回信，说她签了resolution。今天又收到另一位议员很长的回信。我觉得大意是说宾州宪法禁止通过新条款来阻止认证，并且州长和州务卿有权认证大选结果。他们已经要求州长audit大选结果。知道中坛能人很多，我把回信发在这里，大家帮看看有什么有用的信息：
Thank you for reaching out to me about this. I share your concerns about the integrity of Pennsylvania's recent election.
First, you need to be aware that while the US Constitution in Article II Section 1 (2) states:
"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector."
In Pennsylvania the General Assembly directed that presidential electors shall be determined by popular vote, by a law passed in 1937. That popular vote occurred on November 3. The same Election Code assigns the power of certifying election results to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Governor.
The Pennsylvania Constitution, in Article I Section 17 states...
"No ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, or making irrevocable any grant of special privileges or immunities, shall be passed."
An ex post facto law is any law having retroactive effect or force. In other words, the PA Constitution prohibits the General Assembly from passing any law which attempts to reach backward in time. For the General Assembly to appoint presidential electors or to interfere with certification of results now by law, weeks after the election, would constitute an ex post facto law.
There is a legal theory floating around which states that if an election is not conducted according to law or is proven to be ripe with errors or fraud, then the General Assembly could take extraordinary action of ignoring the apparent result of the popular election and appointing presidential electors directly. However, I must point out that it is unclear what legislative instrument (law? resolution? voice vote?) could be used to accomplish that after the fact. Additionally, while there are many questions being asked by various sources regarding the conduct of this election, none of those issues have ripened enough - as of right now - to rise to the level of hard, indisputable evidence of error or fraud.
We have asked the Governor for a full audit of the election, and we have asked him to withdraw or vacate any certifications of results in all statewide races in the 2020 General Election. Attached are two press releases to this effect, and you can read the language of a resolution (HR1094) I introduced, which is attached.
In addition, we are exploring all other avenues available to the General Assembly to ensure faith in Pennsylvania's election results. We are also monitoring several federal court cases which may impact this issue.
Complicating matters right now is the fact that the PA Constitution, in Article II Section 2, also mandates that the 2019-20 legislative session of the General Assembly must expire at midnight on November 30, 2020, because the 2021-22 session commences on December 1, 2020:
"Members of the General Assembly shall be chosen at the general election every second year. Their term of service shall begin on the first day of December next after their election. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in either House, the presiding officer thereof shall issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the term."
And I should note that Article II Section 1 of the PA Constitution states:
"The General Assembly shall be a continuing body during the term for which its Representatives are elected. It shall meet at 12 o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January each year. Special sessions shall be called by the Governor on petition of a majority of the members elected to each House or may be called by the Governor whenever in his opinion the public interest requires."
Despite this apparent continuation of governance by the General Assembly from one day to the next, the incoming members of the 2021-22 General Assembly must have their election results certified, file their most recent campaign finance reports, and be sworn in to office before they are fully vested in their authority as members. In addition, the House of Representatives must reorganize and establish standing committees before any legislation can begin to move. As such, I am at a loss right now to see how we can act as a legislative body.
With all that said, I will continue pursue every available avenue within our authority to ensure every legal vote is accurately accounted for before such certification occurs.
Finally, here is some contact information that might be helpful to you as well:
• If someone believes there was a violation of state law, it could be reported to the local district attorney or the Pennsylvania Attorney General.
• The Pennsylvania Department of State also has a hotline at 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772).
• If someone believes that there has been a violation of federal campaign law, information about where/how to report is available at https://www.fbi.gov/tips
RD
