by Victor Skinner at Just the News
APennsylvania Commonwealth Court has denied a request by legislative Democrats and Attorney General Josh Shapiro to block the release of voters’ information to the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee investigating the 2020 general election and 2021 primary.
The Senate committee subpoenaed the Pennsylvania Department of State in September for the personal information of about 9 million Pennsylvania voters as part of a review of the 2020 general and 2021 primary elections, led by Iowa-based firm Envoy Sage.
The Department of State, which oversees elections, partially complied with the subpoena but refused to provide voters’ driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers the Senate committee contends is necessary to confirm voters’ identities.
In oral arguments last month, attorneys for Senate Republicans pointed to the Department of State sharing the same information with the League of Women Voters in 2012 and past auditor general reviews. Challengers argued the move could put voters’ information at risk of fraud or identity theft.
Shapiro and legislative Democrats also argued Envoy Sage has not outlined sufficient security measures to protect the information and cited the company’s lack of election auditing experience. In addition, Democrats argued the state is bound by federal law to protect “critical infrastructure information” on the state’s election systems.
A panel of five judges ruled Monday…
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