A wave of recount petitions that claim without evidence that fraud occurred in Pennsylvania's 2022 election is inundating counties and delaying the state's certification of results, Spotlight PA and Votebeat report.
According to a spokesperson for the state's court system, 147 petitions were filed in 41 counties as of Thursday morning, most targeting the races for governor and U.S. Senate, both of which were won by Democrats.
That has delayed certification in at least three counties — Berks, Bucks, and Columbia — which has delayed state-level certification as well.
Read the full report: Unprecedented number of recount requests delay election certification in at least 3 Pa. counties.
THE CONTEXT: An obscure section of state law allows recount petitions to be easily filed, and right-wing groups appear to be exploiting that provision to an unprecedented degree this year, Spotlight PA and Votebeat found.
The petition drive appears to be an effort of Audit the Vote PA and other groups that have promoted baseless conspiracy theories about elections here. Audit the Vote's co-founder and CEO Toni Shuppe was closely allied with Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
State Sen. Ryan Aument (R., Lancaster), who won his May primary against an Audit the Vote-backed challenger, prompting an Audit the Vote-backed recount push, said Wednesday that a legislative solution might be needed.
"If the law continues to be abused this way, I think we need a legislative change to safeguard taxpayer dollars and ensure election workers aren’t wasting their time administering hand recounts of elections for which there is no evidence that any malfeasance occurred," Aument said.
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