PA COURT UPHOLDS RIGHT TO INSPECT VOTING MACHINES

The Amistad Project: ruling sets key precedent for election oversight

AMHERST, Va., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Litigation supported by The Amistad Project won a significant ruling by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upholding the right of Pennsylvania counties to exercise the authority granted to them by the state legislature to inspect electronic voting equipment. The court sided with a brief filed by The Amistad Project on behalf of Fulton County, Pennsylvania.

"The court not only overturned the Secretary of the Commonwealth's unlawful decertification of Fulton County's voting machines, but also affirmed that the Secretary cannot prevent counties from exercising their statutory authority to inspect voting machines as part of their duty to ensure 'safe and honest conduct of elections,'" explained Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project.

The case began after Fulton County conducted an inspection of one of its two Dominion voting machines to determine whether they functioned properly during the 2020 election. The Secretary of the Commonwealth then issued an order retroactively banning the practice, while also decertifying both of the county's voting machines and denying the county state funding to replace them.

"The Secretary's actions were clearly intended as political retribution against Fulton County, and to intimidate other counties from cooperating with the state legislature's investigation into irregularities in the management of the 2020 election," Kline said. "This ruling affirms what the U.S. Constitution says, which is that the state legislature has authority over federal elections, and has the right to take appropriate measures to ensure that elections are conducted lawfully in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

Reference: No. 277 M.D. 2021

SOURCE Amistad Project