Pa. Republicans drop effort to create 'election integrity' panel with subpoena power

Pennsylvania Republicans have dropped their plan to create an “election integrity” panel with subpoena power, an effort Democrats feared would represent a “stealth attack” on voting.

The resolution would have created a committee of five House lawmakers — three Republicans and two Democrats — to investigate and review the Nov. 3 election. The group would have been empowered to subpoena “witnesses and documents” and initiate legal filings.

In an email to House lawmakers Friday, Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R., Centre) said he had removed the controversial resolution from the voting calendar “for the remainder of this legislative session” after talking with members.

“The common themes from those conversations show that you understand this select committee was being formed with the best of intentions, but the left and their media allies distorted the image of a bipartisan committee into a nefarious effort on our part to interfere with the upcoming election,” he said. “Nothing can be further from the truth. This caucus has maintained its commitment to the security and safety of our election with on-time results for months.”

Benninghoff said forming the committee “is the right policy,” but that now is the “wrong time to run the proposal.”

Link: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/10/pa-republicans-drop-effort-to-create-election-integrity-panel-with-subpoena-power.html