Thursday, February 20, 2025, 4:46PM |  20°
MENU
Advertisement
Election workers prepare ballots for counting in the basement of the Beaver County Courthouse on Nov. 4, 2020, in Beaver.
6
MORE

Pa. GOP lawmakers seek access to 7 million voters’ personal information

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette

Pa. GOP lawmakers seek access to 7 million voters’ personal information

Republicans vote to subpoena state for access to voters names, dates of birth, driver’s license and social security numbers

State Senate Republicans voted on Wednesday to subpoena a number of records from the Pennsylvania Department of State in an effort to investigate the 2020 presidential election, including the driver’s license and Social Security numbers — the last four digits — of the nearly 7 million voters who cast ballots.

Approved by a 7-4 party-line vote, the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee will subpoena all communications from the state department to county officials, details on guidance and procedures and training materials related to the November 2020 election and the May 2021 primary election. The subpoena will also cover lists containing the names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, last four digits of Social Security numbers and dates of the last voting activity of millions of voters.

The Republican majority deemed the subpoenas necessary to complete their investigation, which they say will determine if there were any anomalies or errors in the system that can be corrected by legislation. They’ve insisted it has nothing to do with former President Donald Trump’s calls for investigations into voter fraud nor an attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s win last year.

Advertisement

Democrats called it a “power grab” and a rushed attempt to turn over private information to an undetermined third-party vendor and vowed to sue the Senate Republican caucus.

The Amistad Project firm has led litigation to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, including in Pennsylvania.
Jamie Martines and Angela Couloumbis
Pennsylvania school mask lawsuit supported by mysterious group that challenged 2020 election results

The lawsuits will argue that Senate Republicans are violating the separation of powers, and will “ask the courts to confirm that the Senate is not the place to conduct an untimely election contest or to undertake an audit that will force election officials to violate federal law and invade the privacy of each and every Pennsylvania voter,” according to a release by the caucus.

Taxpayers will pay for the investigation, the GOP chair of the committee said, and it will be conducted by a contractor. The subpoenas direct Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State to turn over the information by Oct. 1.

In the lead-up to the subpoena vote, Chairman Cris Dush, R-Jefferson County, indicated that he and his team haven’t selected a third-party vendor to do the investigation yet — and couldn’t provide much information about who exactly would have access to the subpoenaed information.

Advertisement

Mr. Dush was questioned extensively by Democratic members, who argued that the subpoena vote was premature given the information that’s been provided.

Taking the lead on questioning was Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks, who asked multiple times why the committee was requesting the Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers of the nearly 7 million people who voted last November. Mr. Dush said that information would be part of any investigation “looking to verify the identity of individuals and their place of residence and their eligibility to vote.”

Asked why the investigation would need to verify the identity of voters, Mr. Dush said it’s “because there have been questions regarding the validity of people who have voted and whether or not they exist,” adding that the investigation isn’t intended to respond to proven allegations but to investigate allegations.

Senate Republicans note the subpoenas don’t request information that could determine which candidates any individual voter selected, or party affiliation. However, a voter’s party affiliation can be found by entering a driver’s license number on the Department of State’s website.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre.
Marc Levy
Republicans aim to advance election 'forensic investigation' with subpoenas

Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in a statement to the Associated Press, said much of the information requested by the subpoenas is already available to the public — but that “voters’ private and sensitive information is also being requested.”

Mr. Shapiro wrote on Twitter that “to be clear, there is no way you are getting Pennsylvanians' private information to give to some mystery company without going through me.”

Information like the last four digits of a Social Security number is necessary to match voters on different lists, Republicans said — in an effort to confirm a voter is alive, eligible to vote and registered properly.

Mr. Dush said he and his team — his staff, as well as legal counsel for the Senate Republicans — are “still working on getting the contracts finalized” for vendors.

“I have been tasked with running this committee,” Mr. Dush said. “I will be making a choice after conferring with legal counsel, and then we will proceed from there.”

Mr. Dush agreed to share information about the caucus’ vetting of vendors with the public but wouldn’t commit to ruling out vendors who have connections to candidates in the elections they’re investigating. He said it would be difficult to ensure that no vendor has a relationship to a candidate but said the vetting will be rigorous and based on qualifications and that he won’t “hire political activists to be investigators.”

“Anything is possible, but it’s not where I’m going with this,” Mr. Dush said.

Echoing Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa in his request to table the subpoena votes until they can get more information, Mr. Santarsiero said it was premature to make such a big decision.

“You are incapable right now — today — while we are considering this vote, to tell the members of this committee and the public who exactly is going to have access to that information, how that information is going to be used, and whether or not that information is going to be made public,” Mr. Santarsiero said. “You can’t even tell us today who is going to be part of your team making those decisions. You’re not willing to let us know what vendors are being considered.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, defended the subpoenas and asked why anyone would be afraid of doing a fact-seeking investigation. It would accomplish one of two things, he said: either reveal problems that can be addressed by legislation or dispel concerns about the last election.

Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, said the subpoenas equated to a “pure unadulterated power grab unfounded in fact” and a “gross misuse of taxpayer dollars.”

GOP leaders said they don’t have an estimate on how much the investigation will cost.

Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @julianrouth. The Associated Press contributed reporting. 

First Published: September 15, 2021, 4:07 p.m.
Updated: September 15, 2021, 4:43 p.m.

RELATED
Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid speaks with members of the media during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
Mark Scolforo
Wolf pulls top election nominee, slams Senate GOP over handling
Pennsylvania Senate Democrats say Thursday's first meeting by Republicans to 'investigate' the 2020 presidential election in the state is part of a national campaign to attack elections.
Marc Levy
Republicans start election ‘investigation’ in Pennsylvania
SHOW COMMENTS (152)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Penguins hall of fame broadcaster Mike Lange works the play-by-play during the Alumni game at Heinz Field on Dec. 31, 2010.
1
sports
Mike Lange, longtime Penguins broadcaster, dies at 76
Mike Lange be­gan an­nounc­ing for the Penguns in 1974.
2
sports
How the hockey world is reacting to the death of Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange
Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange during a press conference at Consol Energy Center.
3
sports
Jason Mackey: What Mike Lange meant to me, and why we must carry on his incredible legacy
Dr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah helped writers of "The Pitt" with her perspective working in emergency medicine.
4
a&e
'It's very real,' says the Pittsburgh ER doctor who consulted on 'The Pitt' TV show
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, GM Kevin Colbert and president Art Rooney II watch afternoon practice Friday, July 27, 2018, at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
5
sports
Brian Batko’s Steelers mailbag: Should there have been a better long-term plan at quarterback?
Election workers prepare ballots for counting in the basement of the Beaver County Courthouse on Nov. 4, 2020, in Beaver.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
In this Nov. 4 file photo, municipal workers count ballots in Wilkes-Barre.  (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)
 (PennDOT)
An election worker processes overseas and military ballots while observers watch on Nov. 6, 2020, at the Allegheny County election warehouse on the North Side.  (Emily Matthews/Post-Gazette)
Photograph of actual security feature. New Pennysylvania driver's licenses.  ( Pennsylvania Department of Transportation)
 (Associated Press)
Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST news
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story