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Pa. Republican Lawmakers Haven't Given Up Blocking Biden

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More than 60 Republicans from the Pennsylvania Legislature signed a letter asking the state's congressional delegation to reject Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon County, who signed the letter, says it's not a matter of election fraud. He says it's a matter of policy.

"We sent (it) to our congressional delegation asking them to contest the appointment of electors, and they can do that in the U.S. House when those electors are seated," he said. "We also ask for the attorney general to appoint an independent prosecutor to overlook and review the results of the election."

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, says he's not buying it.

"Don't tell members of Congress to object to the electoral vote unless you want the result overturned," he said. "Now if they want to have conversations going forward about reform and make the process clear and remove concerns from it, that's fine. But if you sign to a letter objecting to the count of electoral votes, you're not expressing process concerns. You're trying to disenfranchise thousands of Pennsylvanians."

READ THE LETTER HERE

In the Dec. 4 letter, Republican lawmakers say the law allows Congress to reject electoral votes that aren't "regularly given" or "lawfully certified." They say the Wolf administration undermined election reform law enacted in 2019 and violated rules regarding ballots and mail-in deadlines.

State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh/Berks, also signed the letter. He did not return a message seeking comment.

Lawyers for President Donald Trump have filed multiple lawsuits and challenges to election results since Biden, a Democrat, was projected as the winner of the presidential election. Biden won Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, by more than 80,000 votes.

Trump's legal efforts to overturn results took a major hit late in the day Tuesday as the U.S. Supreme Court refused to call Pennsylvania's certification into question.

That ruling was the result of lawsuit by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., challenging certification and attempting to invalidate Pennsylvania's results.

PBS39 News ReportsPA ELECTORAL COLLEGE ELECTORS
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Republican lawmakers are asking congressional delegation to reject Joe Biden electors.