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PRINTER'S NO. 46
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
8
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY DUSH, JANUARY 20, 2021
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, JANUARY 20, 2021
A RESOLUTION
Declaring, in response to significant activities contravening
the Pennsylvania Election Code, that the November 3, 2020,
Pennsylvania General Election to appoint electors of
President and Vice President is unlawful, void ab initio and
invalid, and that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has failed
to appoint electors of President and Vice President on the
day prescribed by law; and exercising the plenary power of
the General Assembly, under the Constitution of the United
States, to appoint electors of President and Vice President.
WHEREAS, Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution
of the United States empowers state legislatures, including the
General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to direct
the manner of appointing electors of President and Vice
President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The authority to conduct elections is further
prescribed in Article VII of the Constitution of Pennsylvania;
and
WHEREAS, Section 5 of Article I of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania states "Elections shall be free and equal"; and
WHEREAS, Section 6 of Article VII of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania states "All laws regulating the holding of
elections by the citizens, or for the registration of electors,
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shall be uniform throughout the State"; and
WHEREAS, Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania states "The legislative power of this Commonwealth
shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a
Senate and a House of Representatives"; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly has exercised its authority to
establish election administration procedures for the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the act of June 3, 1937
(P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code requires all mail-in
ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on the day of the election; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code requires election
officials at polling places to authenticate the signatures of
in-person voters; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code requires that county
boards of elections shall not meet to conduct a pre-canvass of
absentee and mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day,
during which time defects on mail-in ballots would be
identified; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code prohibits the
counting of defective absentee or mail-in ballots; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code authorizes the use of
watchers, selected by candidates and political parties, to
observe the process of canvassing absentee and mail-in ballots;
and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania conducted an
election on November 3, 2020, for the purpose of appointing
electors of President and Vice President of the United States;
and
WHEREAS, On September 17, 2020, less than seven weeks before
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the November 3, 2020, election, the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania unlawfully and unilaterally extended the deadline
for mail-in ballots to be received and mandated that ballots
mailed without a postmark would be presumed to be received
timely and could be accepted without a verified voter signature;
and
WHEREAS, On October 23, 2020, less than two weeks before the
November 3, 2020, election and upon a petition from the
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania ruled that county Boards of Election need not
authenticate signatures for mail-in ballots, thereby treating
in-person and mail-in voters dissimilarly and eliminating a
critical safeguard against potential election crime; and
WHEREAS, On November 2, 2020, the night before the November
3, 2020, election and prior to the prescribed time for pre-
canvassing mail-in ballots, the office of the Secretary of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encouraged certain counties to
notify party and candidate representatives of mail-in voters
whose ballots contained defects; and
WHEREAS, Predominantly Democratic counties permitted mail-in
voters to cure defective ballot submissions while predominantly
Republican counties followed the law and invalidated defective
ballot submissions; and
WHEREAS, In certain counties in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, watchers were not permitted to meaningfully
observe the pre-canvassing and canvassing activities relating to
absentee and mail-in ballots; and
WHEREAS, Officials in the Executive and Judicial branches of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania infringed upon the General
Assembly's authority under the Constitution of the United States
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and the Constitution of Pennsylvania by issuing decisions and
providing guidance contravening the express provisions of the
Pennsylvania Election Code; and
WHEREAS, Election officials in certain counties of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acted upon those decisions and
guidance by the Executive and Judicial branches of the
Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Election officials in certain counties of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took further actions to contravene
the provisions of the Pennsylvania Election Code; and
WHEREAS, 3 U.S.C. § 1 states "The electors of President and
Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday
next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year
succeeding every election of a President and Vice President";
and
WHEREAS, The aforementioned events tainted and doomed the
entirety of the process of appointing electors of President and
Vice President on the day prescribed by law; and
WHEREAS, 3 U.S.C. § 2 states "Whenever any State has held an
election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to
make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be
appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the
legislature of such State may direct"; and
WHEREAS, Article VI, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution
of the United States states "This Constitution, and the Laws of
the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and
all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority
of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and
the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in
the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
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notwithstanding"; and
WHEREAS, The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
purported to certify the returns of Pennsylvania's election to
appoint electors of President and Vice President on November 24,
2020, and the Governor issued a certificate of ascertainment of
presidential electors on the same day; and
WHEREAS, There are significant outstanding issues regarding
the public's ability to confirm the returns as certified
regarding electors of President and Vice President; therefore be
it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
do the following:
(1) Declare the aforementioned to be findings of fact.
(2) Condemn all infringement on the General Assembly's
authority to establish election law pursuant to the
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
Pennsylvania.
(3) Declare the November 3, 2020, election process for
appointing electors of President and Vice President for the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as neither equal nor uniform,
but instead as unlawful, void ab initio and the results
thereof invalid.
(4) Dispute the certification of electors of President
and Vice President by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania and the Governor on November 24, 2020.
(5) Declare that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has
failed to appoint electors of President and Vice President on
the day prescribed by law in 3 U.S.C. § 1.
(6) Exercise its portion of the General Assembly's
plenary power regarding electors of President and Vice
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President as provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of
the Constitution of the United States.
(7) Affirm the General Assembly's authority to pursue
the aforementioned under the provisions of Article VI,
Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States.
(8) Exercise its portion of the General Assembly's
authority to decertify and withdraw the electors of President
and Vice President certified by the Secretary of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Governor on November 24,
2020.
(9) Reserve its portion of the General Assembly's
authority to appoint electors of President and Vice President
on a subsequent day in accordance with 3 U.S.C. § 2.
(10) Urge the Congress of the United States to recognize
the General Assembly's authority in these matters, and to
object to, and reject, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's
electors for President and Vice President as certified by the
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
Governor on November 24, 2020, as well as any votes cast by
those electors;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That, upon passage, this resolution be transmitted
to the Governor, the Congress of the United States and the Vice
President of the United States.
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