Pennsylvania Democrats Sue Over GOP Election 'Investigation'
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats in Pennsylvania's state Senate sued Friday evening in a state court to block a Republican-approved subpoena seeking voter information and to put a stop to what Republicans call a "forensic investigation" of last year's presidential election.
Democrats had said they would sue within days after the Republican-controlled Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee voted Wednesday to issue a subpoena for detailed state election records, including the names of who voted in last year's presidential election, their birth date, address, driver's license number, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The subpoena is an outgrowth of former President Donald Trump's baseless claims that he was cheated out of victory last November, and ongoing pressure by Trump and his allies for battleground states where he lost to investigate the election.
The 53-page lawsuit, filed by all 21 Senate Democrats, contends that the Senate Republican bid to investigate the election illegally treads on the court's duties, violates state law over election audits and seeks information that is barred from public disclosure.
Republicans in Pennsylvania have thus far stopped short of issuing subpoenas for voting machines and ballots from last year's presidential election, as the Arizona Senate GOP did in that state's widely discredited and partisan "audit."
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