Pa. GOP Won't Overrule Popular Vote for Joe Biden, If Certified

Republican leaders in the General Assembly confirmed Friday, Nov. 6, that a certified popular vote victory for former Vice President Joe Biden for the presidency will stand, despite rumors to the contrary still circulating on social media.

Pa. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) and House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) told reporters that legislators care only that the state follows election law, no matter the outcome.

“Our role is to provide oversight,” Corman said. “Certainly we want to stay with that tradition that the popular vote gets the electorate.”

“We have a member who won by one vote,” Cutler added. “We’ve had the majority in the House hinge on less than 30 votes. The process we had in place previously worked, we just wish it was followed this time.”

Cutler’s comments reference the Supreme Court ruling that allowed county election officials to tabulate ballots postmarked Tuesday and received through 5 p.m. Friday.

The leaders also remain critical of Pa. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar for releasing contradictory guidance on the eve of the election that encouraged some counties to reach out to voters with invalid ballots to come fill out provisional ones instead.

Corman called for Boockvar’s resignation just after the polls closed Tuesday, noting that the guidance isn’t supported by state law.

Cutler also asked for a full audit of the 2020 general election, just as he did for the primary conducted back in June.

“What we will do is we will follow the law,” Corman said. “That’s what we’ve asked for in this process all along.

Corman first addressed the rumors that the GOP-controlled legislature would use its power to redirect Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes to President Donald Trump over the summer.

Corman wrote an opinion essay with House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, published in the Centre Daily Times, stating, “the Pennsylvania General Assembly does not and will not have a hand in choosing the state’s presidential electors or in deciding the outcome of the presidential election.”

The question comes amid allegations of voter fraud from President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. It became evident last week that President Trump had a very narrow path to win re-election without Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes.