akers Want to Find Out Why Pennsylvania Sent 240,000 Unverified Ballots //

In a letter, state lawmakers claim that nearly a quarter million ballots were sent to Pennsylvania voters without verifying their identities.

“According to data, as of Oct. 21, 20,22, a staggering 240,000 votes are ‘NOT Verified,'” 15 Republicans from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives wrote Tuesday in a letter to acting Secretary of Commonwealth Leigh Chapman.

“This is an overwhelming number of ballots, and must be set aside and no longer counted for 2022 General Election, unless the voter produces lD,” write the lawmakers.

Frank Ryan, State Rep., was the author of the letter. He is also a member the House State Government Committee. It cites data regarding unverified ballots for Nov. 8 election, produced by the Pennsylvania Department of State. Chapman is its head.

Ryan and the 14 other GOP lawmakers are:

This will force counties to, according to one county election director, “go after the missing data” to prove that lD was obtained for unverified ballots. What amount of additional staff is available for counties to contact these quarter-million ballot recipients and verify their identities? Many of these unverified ballots are likely to be the result of transpositions of numbers or letters, but the law’s purpose is to ensure integrity. All ballots must be matched, so all must be discarded and lD checked before being counted.

The Daily Signal reached Chapman’s office but he didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.

The letter from state legislators states that the problem stems out of a 2018 directive from her Office “instructing counties register voters without verifying their identity.”

Ryan informed The Daily Signal that a 2019 State Audit revealed that the secretary of commonwealth was uncooperative and had an unreliable method of keeping election records in its Statewide Uniform Registry of Electeds system, or SURE.

Ryan stated that “all we are trying is to get ahead of this year’s balloting process,” in a telephone interview. “We are letting [Pennsylvania] Department of State understand that we can reduce the number of challenges, and fix this before it is too late.”

Ryan stressed that the issue is not about the outcome of elections.

Ryan stated that no one is claiming that this determines who wins or loses. “We are simply saying that the database is so corrupt it needs to be fixed.”

The letter mentions that the Sept. Ryan, a member of the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee asked Jonathan Marks (deputy secretary for elections, commissions) to explain why his office had made so many requests to Social Security Administration’s Help America Vote Verification system.

Marks replied that it was to verify information about applications for mail-in votes. He explained to the committee that even if an applicant submits inadmissible identification, the counties must still send a mail ballot to the requester.

Marks stressed the distinction between voter registrations and voting during the hearing.

“[In] voter register, there is no federal requirement, state requirement that those numbers correspond or that every voter have one of those two numbers,” Marks stated to the Pennsylvania House committee. He was referring to either a state Transportation Department ID or the last four digits from a Social Security number.

Marks stated that mail-in balloting is a requirement. “If your PennDOT lD is not verified or your last four SSN numbers are not verified, the county may still issue the ballot. However, the ballot will not count unless the voter has a valid form.

The lawmakers’ letter points out that the Pennsylvania Department of State contradicted Marks by issuing guidance on Sept. 26, for the examination of return envelopes for absentee votes. This guidance states that counties must verify who a voter really is before they can send such ballots.

The state guidance states that “Before sending out the ballot to the applicant the county board for elections confirms his qualifications by verifying the proof he or she is a citizen of the United States.”

According to the GOP lawmakers, 240,000 ballots were still unverified as of Oct. 21 data. They request that the secretary’s office clarify matters for county election offices and provide a list of applicants who asked for mail-in ballots.

Ryan and the other legislators write to Chapman to say that “Due to the conflicting data provided by your deportment,” Chapman says that “counties should be required certify all of these ballots have not been cast and keep a record of the type and identification produced by the voter who previously provided nonmatching ID.”

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