House Republicans Highlight Luzerne County’s Voter Suppression In The 2022 Midterms

The Committee on House Administration, comprised of Republicans, recently held a hearing to discuss Luzerne County, Pennsylvania’s 2022 election failures. During the hearing, Chairman and Republican Rep. Bryan Steil noted the lack of evidence to support accusations by Democrats that states such as Georgia and Florida, who have implemented voter integrity laws, are suppressing voters. Steil highlighted evidence of Luzerne County voters who wanted to vote but were turned away from polls due to mismanagement by election officials.

During the morning of election day, several precincts throughout Luzerne County reported ballot paper shortages, leading to voters being turned away by election workers. In response, a judge ordered polling places to stay open two additional hours or until 10 p.m. Despite the election board’s initial refusal to certify the election results (2-2-1), the board ultimately certified the results following legal threats from leftist law firms. Democrats, who typically criticize GOP-backed election integrity initiatives, have remained quiet regarding the disenfranchisement of Luzerne voters.

The Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, Jim Bognet, referred to the election in Luzerne as a “disaster” and criticized county election officials for their mismanagement of the contest and post-election matters. Bognet also expressed concern over lack of accountability or responsibility taken four and a half months after the election, with officials refusing to answer questions.

Three Luzerne election officials declined the House committee’s invitation to testify on Tuesday after the county law office recommended they not attend due to an ongoing investigation. During his remarks, Bognet accused county officials of hiding behind the investigation to avoid answering questions from constituents.

Democrats at the hearing used the opportunity to play political games and advance trite talking points. Alabama Democrat Rep. Terri Sewell called for more funding from the federal government to provide grants for state election administration. In the 2020 election, left-wing groups like the Center for Tech and Civic Life received hundreds of millions of dollars from Mark Zuckerberg to change how elections were administered, including expanding unsecured election protocols like mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes. These grants were heavily skewed towards Democrat-majority counties, essentially creating a massive Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.

Ranking Member and Democrat Rep. Joe Morelle attempted to rehash the 2020 election with questions for Bognet about Joe Biden’s successful run.