Senate Republicans move to collect personal info on every Pa. voter at taxpayers' expense
Candy WoodallState Senate Republicans will collect personal information on every Pennsylvania voter, including the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, as part of their controversial investigation of the 2020 general election.
Subpoenas to get that information and more were approved Wednesday in a 7-4 party-line vote by the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee.
In addition to the Social Security numbers, the committee is seeking a list of the more than 9 million registered voters in Pennsylvania, including their names, dates of birth, addresses, dates of their votes in the November 2020 general election and May 2021 primary.
The inquiry also seeks a list that details how everyone voted in those elections — in person or by mail, absentee ballot or provisional ballot.
Those requests are among 17 subpoenas approved by the panel Wednesday.
Senate Republicans also want all emails, legal guidance and training procedures between the Department of State and 67 county boards of election from May 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
Responses are due Oct. 1, and a review will be conducted by a private vendor. That vendor has not yet been identified.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday who would have access to all of the data once it is obtained or how the information would be protected against a security breach.
That "should be scary to all of us," Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, said during the hearing.
Democrats and nonpartisan analysts have criticized the Republican-led investigation as a highly political inquiry designed to appease former President Donald Trump, who continues to make unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes, which is double the margin Trump had against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The Trump campaign lost all of its legal challenges — more than 60 — or courts dismissed them because, as liberal and conservative judges have ruled, the cases lacked evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
A Pennsylvania House committee pursued an investigation during the last legislative session. The state Senate started their review last week, less than two months from the 2021 general election.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, said the investigation is not designed to recount or overturn results of the 2020 election. Instead, it is designed to give voters confidence in Pennsylvania's election system.
Democrats say Republicans are to blame for that crisis of confidence because they perpetuated Trump's "big lie" that the election was stolen or fraudulent in some way.
It is unclear how long the Republican investigation will continue, and no budget limit has been set. Committee Chair Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, confirmed Wednesday that taxpayers are footing the bill for this process.
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Candy Woodall is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania Capital Bureau. She can be reached at 717-480-1783 or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.