Defending Democracy focus of Tuesday’s House Democratic Policy Committee meeting
Policy Committee January 19, 2021 | 1:19 PM
HARRISBURG, Jan. 19 – The House Democratic Policy Committee today met virtually to hear from state and county officials on their 2020 election experience and to discuss recent false allegations of election fraud.
“The consistent theme from testifiers was that election staff was professional, diligent and facilitated a secure election. Our county election workers need the legislature to address pre-canvassing issues and streamline operations between the in-person and mail-in systems. Fortunately, many of these efforts have been put forth by my colleagues and we look forward to advocating for these commonsense measures,” Bizzarro said.
The committee heard from Jonathan Marks from the Department of State on election security; Andrew Szefi, Allegheny County solicitor; Al Schmidt, Philadelphia city commissioner; and Bob Harvie, Bucks County election commissioner on their experiences through the 2020 election and improvements that could be made to streamline future elections.
Testimony was also submitted by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania that included recommendations for election reform that reinforced the need for pre-canvassing and additional time to process mail-in ballots. Dominion Voting Systems submitted their voting process for the record.
“Ultimately, the people who carry out these elections are doing their job. They are Republicans, Democrats, independents; but more importantly, they are our neighbors, family and friends. There are grave penalties for carrying out election fraud. Those processing ballots worked around the clock to securely present the results of this election. The false accusations that these people have had to endure are disheartening. We look forward to working with our colleagues to move legislative solutions that improve the voting process for all Pennsylvanians,” Bizzarro said.
The hearing can be viewed here and the testimony is available here.