Nov. 18, 2020
HARRISBURG – In his first hearing as acting chairman of the House State Government Committee, Rep. Seth Grove (R-Dover) led the committee in approving
House Resolution 1100, which directs the non-partisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) to conduct a risk-limiting audit of the 2020 election.
“Elections are the basis of our entire form of government. Unfortunately, the general election was ripe with confusion brought on by new voting methods, Pennsylvania Supreme Court interference and conflicting guidance from Department of State,” Grove said. “This audit will examine the entire election process to instill faith in every election.”
The LBFC audit would not question the results of the 2020 election, but rather scrutinize the process to guarantee integrity in every election. The bipartisan LBFC was chosen in part because it is made up by an equal number of Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate. In addition, the committee will continue to operate while the General Assembly’s 2019-20 session ends at the end of the month, allowing for the audit to proceed uninterrupted.
While the Pennsylvania Department of State does conduct its own audits of every election, which is based on small sample sizes, the LBFC risk-limiting audit would include much larger samples. It would also be required to provide data sets, much like what was done for an audit report on the 2020 primary election.
House Resolution 1100 now goes to the full House for consideration.
Representative Seth Grove
196th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives