House Committee Probes ‘Voter Suppression’ in Pennsylvania County

During a congressional hearing that lasted three hours and had two panels of witnesses, it couldn’t be determined who failed to order enough ballots for the 2022 midterm election in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

However, one thing is for sure- Republicans are furious about it.

Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) started the hearing by stating that one-third of the county’s polling stations ran out of ballot paper on Election Day.

Steil claimed that voters were “disenfranchised” by individuals in Luzerne County, and they deserve answers.

“Votes were suppressed,” he said. “Voters who waited to vote were turned away from the polls.”

Congressman Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) remarked that the situation was similar to someone neglecting to bring the football to the Super Bowl or fuel to the Indianapolis 500.

Republican Strongholds Had No More Ballots

During his testimony, James Walsh, a Luzerne County businessman and GOP activista, claimed that 48 polling stations ran out of ballot paper.

All of these polling stations are located in areas where voters traditionally support the Republican party by two-to-one margins or more, Walsh stated.

Upon the suggestion of the Luzerne County Solicitor’s office, no county officials accepted the committee’s invitation to testify in Washington regarding the incident.

The committee was informed that the matter has been under investigation by the office of Luzerne County District Attorney Samuel Sanguedolce, a Republican, since November 2022.

On March 29, Sanguedolce informed The Epoch Times that the Election Code allows his office to investigate both criminal and non-criminal issues regarding elections.

He stated that he had detectives working on the case, his report would be finished shortly, and the findings of the investigation would be made public.

Sanguedolce also said that he watched the March 28 hearing online and thought that a lot of the criticisms against Luzerne County election officials were “unjustified.”

“Many of the statements weren’t first-hand accounts. It was the kind of loose small talk you might hear at a bar. Our investigation will show that some of the statements were entirely false,” he added.

The running out of ballots as early as 7:30 a.m. on Election Day was one of the issues that the Committee on House Administration investigated regarding Luzerne County’s problems.

Witnesses Speak Out

Witness Darin Gibbons, an attorney with the Republican National Committee, testified that Luzerne County had sent out over 900 duplicate mail-in ballots.

Gibbons reported that there were 4,400 more voter signatures in the poll book than ballots counted.

He stated, “Pennsylvania has a reputation for inconsistent election administration.”

Upset over the differences between the number of individuals who signed in to vote and the number of ballots counted, Republican Jim Bognet, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress to represent a portion of Luzerne County, testified that the 2022 election was “a complete disaster.”

“Who was supposed to order the ballot paper? And even after four and a half months, there are still no answers,” he added.

Bognet stated that because of the scarcity of ballot paper, his campaign received fewer votes than anticipated from Luzerne County.

According to witnesses, voting difficulties on Election Day disproportionately affect Republicans since they mostly prefer same-day voting.

The members heard from witnesses regarding a polling station in a heavily Republican area that closed two hours before the court-ordered extension of voting time to 10 p.m.

The committee was informed about some voting machines that weren’t operating properly when the polls opened, even though they were tested and found to be functional the day before. A voter who was present stated that one voting machine needed to be rebooted three times.

Witnesses complained that election officials had to purchase computer paper from office supply shops hurriedly, resulting in voters being forced to vote on a flimsy material.

They stated that piles of handwritten provisional ballots were strewn around unsecured and unattended.

Reports indicated that there weren’t enough power strips available to connect voting equipment, resulting in long lines for voters waiting to vote.