FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media@ElectionDefense.Org
Conservative and Progressive Groups Unite to Pressure PA Lawmakers to Ensure Safe, Secure Elections in November
Americans for Tax Reform, R Street, Public Citizen, National Election Defense Coalition, FreedomWorks and others call for immediate investment in voter-verified paper ballots and COVID-19 security measures
June 30, 2020 -- Pennsylvania’s chaotic June primary – plagued by long lines, equipment failure and lack of preparation amid the COVID-19 pandemic – sets the stage for a disastrous November election if immediate steps aren’t taken by the state, said a group of conservative and progressive organizations in a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar. The letter calls on Pennsylvania’s leaders to appropriate funds for low-cost security options, including backup paper ballots for voters choosing to vote in-person. The letter also called for drastically reducing the use of insecure, error prone touchscreen voting machines and to fund measures that would provide safe in-person voting options to prevent chaos on Election Day.
Despite a surge in mail-in ballots, cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh saw an influx of in-person voters even as a number of polling site locations closed due to the pandemic. And Philadelphia, Northampton and Cumberland counties deployed new ExpressVote XL voting machines even though the machines incorrectly recorded votes for several candidates in the November 2019 election.
“This should not be a partisan fight. Insecure voting equipment and lack of preparedness only serves to disenfranchise voters of both parties. It is up to Pennsylvania to protect democracy this November,” said Ben Ptashnik, former Vermont State Senator and President of the National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC). “Citizens who prefer to vote in-person should not have to use touchscreen voting machines that are not only vulnerable to error and hacking, they can also spread the COVID-19 infection and endanger their health.”
“Our elections should be ironclad, and we benefit from being able to double-check the results,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. “The steps outlined in this letter will help Pennsylvania shore up elections in 2020 and beyond.”
“Pennsylvania should immediately disconnect all voting systems from the Internet, and also work with the Department of Homeland Security and the EAC to ensure elections are conducted securely,” said cyber security expert Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer (ret), President of the Conservative London Center for Policy Research. “We already know that the threat to our elections is real and foreign actors are trying to cast doubt on the integrity of November’s election. There are concrete steps states like Pennsylvania can take now to ensure voters stay safe and elections are not manipulated. Voter verified paper ballots are in both counts the safest way to vote”.
The letter, signed by groups like NEDC, Americans for Tax Reform, R Street, Public Citizen, FreedomWorks and others, addresses the issues with insecure voting machines like the ones in Philadelphia while directing the state to spend federal funds in cost-effective ways to secure the November election. These include:
· Ensure that voting machines produce human-readable, voter-verified paper ballots
· Conduct post-election, risk-limiting audits
· Ban all technologies that allow Internet connectivity
· Place emergency back-up ballots in all precincts
· Limit the use of touchscreen machines to mitigate the spread of COVID-19
· Implement 24/7 video monitoring of all ballot processing areas