EDITORIAL: The “Big Lie” infects local governments in Pennsylvania
An editorial voice from the Scranton Times-Tribune:
After voluntarily turning over election software to a third party that had no valid claim to it, Fulton County’s majority commissioners have lawyered up to fight the state Department of State’s order to reestablish election security by obtaining a new voting system.
The commissioners wanted to spawn an Arizona-style post-election “fraudit,” furthering the egregious lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania, which he lost to President Joe Biden by about 80,000 votes.
But at least those benighted officials have legal authority over elections. Supervisors in Lehigh Township, Northampton County, knew they had no authority over election law when, by a 4-0 vote, they cynically passed a resolution in May and pretended it was an actual law covering election procedures.
The resolution stated that the board “hereby resolves that the following election integrity laws will be adhered to throughout the Lehigh Township community and the polls.”
It went on to assert that the state’s election law is unconstitutional, and that the township would not allow mail-in ballots or drop boxes while requiring voter identification not authorized by state law. The penalty for violations, according to the supervisors, would be a $15,000 fine and seven years in prison.
In passing the fake law, the supervisors ignored their own solicitor, who told them that they had no such authority.
And Northampton County deputy solicitor Richard E. Santee called the political stunt for what it was: “The mere existence of this official action of Lehigh Township has the effect of intimidating, harassing, and suppressing qualified voters and election officials,” he wrote to the board, before notifying the state and U.S. attorneys general.
In June, the supervisors repealed the resolution with a 3-1 vote. But the episode illustrates the degree to which the “big lie” has legs among Trump cultists, and the need for voters to respond en masse.