Rep. Scott Perry: Setting the record straight — Why I objected to the electoral college vote
Speculation and misinformation persist concerning the objection to the 2020 electoral votes. Contrary to popular belief (or reporting), few have “moved on.”
My objection on the floor of the U.S. House followed the letter of the law, along with the traditions and role of Congress in these matters. Objections to the electoral vote, after all, aren’t unique to the 2020 election – Democrat Members of Congress objected the last three times a Republican won the Presidency, without eliciting a peep from media elites.
Many Pennsylvanians have deep concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election. For months, I received thousands of calls, letters, and emails from constituents expressing concerns about the election, specifically about mail-in voting. Every Pennsylvanian must have faith that our elections are free, fair, and secure.
Ultimately, the Constitution is a piece of paper that cannot defend itself, which is why I swore an oath to uphold and defend it.
The Constitution clearly states that, “the times, place and manner of holding elections shall be prescribed by the legislature…” – not the courts, the governor, or other bureaucrats.
I objected to the electoral votes because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Governor Tom Wolf repeatedly refused to abide by the Constitution.
With this firmly in mind, I objected to the electoral votes because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Governor Tom Wolf repeatedly refused to abide by the Constitution. The following unconstitutional actions lead to confusion, at best, and to malfeasance at worst — and clearly tipped the scales towards the party that captured Pennsyvlania’s electoral votes.
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, on which Democrats hold a 5-2 majority, extended the deadline to receive mail-in ballots for three days after the election, despite the Pennsylvania Legislature already providing mail-in voting guidelines. No extension beyond election day was needed, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to make this decision.
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowed unmonitored “drop boxes” to collect mail-in ballots despite state law clearly stating that you must authenticate your vote whether you vote in person or (now) vote by mail. Drop boxes allowed one person to submit an infinite number of ballots, with no means to validate a voter’s existence or registration. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to make this decision – which created two separate classes of voters.
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court prohibited the use of signatures to authenticate mail-in ballots. Voters’ signatures are authenticated when they request an absentee ballot or vote in person — so why not when they submit mail-in ballots? Again, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling created two separate classes of voters, and two sets of rules: those who were authenticated and those who weren’t, which violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alito authored a ruling against “co-mingling” (opening, counting, or separating from the envelope) ballots received after election day; they had to be segregated. Six days before the election, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar directed county boards of election not to co-mingle ballots; two days before the election she sent new guidance — which defied Justice Alito’s ruling – to open and count all ballots as soon as they were received. Boockvar’s rogue guidance to co-mingle made it impossible to determine which ballots were received before 8 p.m. on election day and, worse yet, not all counties followed her guidance. This, again, led to two sets of rules, unreliable results, and another violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
- On the eve of the election, Boockvar directed county boards of election to allow ballot “curing” – a process by which a mistake on a ballot may be fixed rather than rejected. In this election, curing was allowed in some counties/precincts, but not in others. Once again, this led to two sets of rules and yet another violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
- The Pennsylvania Legislature asked the governor to convene a special session before election day to address these – and other – election concerns. Gov. Wolf refused any opportunity for debate or discussion, hence providing no redress for people concerned about the integrity of the election.
Every citizen must have faith and confidence in the integrity of our electoral system. Sadly, the unconstitutional actions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Gov. Wolf have eroded that trust for many. In fighting to preserve this sacred undertaking, my objection to the certification of the election was to facilitate debate on the issue of election integrity and restore that trust. I requested only an investigation – an objective, legal and independent one.
With the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court effectively shutting the door on a substantive judicial review of these unconstitutional acts, our election laws remain – as Justice Thomas accurately stated in his dissent – “hidden beneath a shroud of doubt.” This makes the pursuit of integrity more important than ever.
Under our system of representative self-government, the People mutually pledge to be bound by the results of an election until the next election is held. When the accuracy and integrity of our election results are in question, our entire constitutional order is threatened. That is why I will never cease to represent my constituents’ voices or to defend the Constitution in the fight to preserve our Republic, as it stands.
Congressman Scott Perry is a combat Veteran with more than 38 years of uniformed service who proudly serves more than 720,000 Americans in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, comprised of Dauphin County and parts of York and Cumberland Counties.
I pray something is done to correct this. We cannot have another election in PA like the 2020 one. We need voter ID. It’s the only way to assure fair elections. Absentee ballots with legitimate reason is fine. Thank you for all you do.
I absolutely agree with Voter ID
This is great. We all know there was election fraud.We cant understand why Government officals were so blind to it. The only conclusion is they wanted to win anyway they could! The rightful and LEGAL PRESIDENT is PRESIDENT TRUMP!!!!!There was fraud in other states too.Thank You for doing whats right and Legal.There arent many of you out there!
Where is the proof of election fraud ? Promoting the the “Big Lie” continues.
I strongly object to the random mail in voting system that occurred in the 2020 election. I have lost all faith in the election process especially in Pennsylvania. I hope I am either living in another state or dead before the next. election. Do not trust the action process in Pennsylvania.
Thank you for your stance on this. Election integrity is one of my biggest concerns for this country.
Doesn’t the electoral college ensure that all votes count more constant than the popular vote? California, New York would dictate over less populated stated like Montana and I thought that was why we have the electoral college. To make it even all over the states. 🤷🏻♀️
I am confused I guess
THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS TO CLARIFY A GREVIOUS SITUATION.
I feel the 2020 election was a fraud and i will always believe that no matter what they say never should we have went to mail-in-votes we were not prepared for that quick of an evection and it was a very special election and we should have never voted or even considered voting with out id. I feel that President Biden big rush to get these immigrants in to our country and make them citizen is about voting in 2024
I feel that our Voter ID cards should be shown before voting, and on our in person voting ballott there should be a area to enter your voter ID numbers on the Ballot Then there would be no question of false ballots. The counting machines can be programmed to log the voters ID. If any other come in as a duplicate the machine would either kick it out or it wouldn’t be counted. Those that are kicked out could be recheck by county’s offices. This is one way to stop the fraudulent ballots.
Continue from my last post. On mail in ballots there should be a area to enter your voter ID number. The machine can also match that number in the data base. Once someone passes away there voter ID should be marked by county’s that that are deceased, the same way Social Security Mark’s they are deceased. This will stop the false ballots.
Thanks, Scott. We’re being you, but must ask, do you also object to your own PA election results?
Please explain.
So, I’m wondering how these people are breaking laws and not being prosecuted for their violations.
There were over 60 lawsuits filed that certainly included all these concerns and they were all thrown out by both GOP federal judges and Dem judges. If any of this were true it would have been caught then. Every election official from both parties affirmed the accuracy of the election. All these issues were investigated and applied due to the special problems associated with the COVID pandemic and allowed a necessity for everyone to have a oppurtunity to cast a vote. I thought that once a state certifies their election results that is the constitutional result and cannot be rejected by a Pres unless he finds a problem which he did not. So I think you are really wrong with what you are doing.
Thank you for your stand on the 2020 election. Now what happened in PA’s election was a disgrace. As a result of this, America and We The People are paying the price. This man in the white house did not win this election and he and his radical left cabinet is destroying America. God Help Us.
Great to see that you are on a panel disscuion at CPAC Sunday about Corporate America is surrendering to China The voting machine’s in Pennsylvania are part of the problem as we do not trust them to give an accurate count. Plus ESS and Dominion Voting System can be hacked by China
Hopefully the PA Legislature will do something about election integrity Hope you get to talk to President Trump Sunday about running for Senate his endorsed would be huge
My mother is listed as a Democrat she never requested a mail in ballot. Her and multiple people she worked with were mailed two forms. She threw one away and surrendered the second one at the polling place so she could vote in the traditional way. About a week or so later she received a notice thanking her for her vote and that they have received her mail in ballot. Now either that means someone filled out her form or it was a mistake. I asked her why she didn’t report it and she said because she didn’t have photographs of the blank ballot when she turned it in and the email would not stand trial because the political leaders would cover it up. We are glad you refused thank you.
Thank you for your objection. Everyone with a brain knows there was massive fraud in PA. I am embarrassed by this Governor and the head of state for their participation and the fraud they orchestrated. They should both be put in jail for treason. We need voter ID before the next election. And I do not want to hear it would limit legitimate voting. You need ID to get welfare and food stamps at least I know that is the case if you are white. Thank you again for your objection.
Thank you for standing up and speaking out against this travesty. To the person who commented that this was all “ investigated “ and that’s why the lawsuits were thrown out- exactly who and what was investigated? No one and nothing. No official investigation, the powers that be could care less.