Franklin County GOP Calls on Shapiro to Follow Law with Timely Count of Ballots

Following is the letter that was sent by the Franklin County Republican Committee:

In August 2024, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt informed Pennsylvanians to not expect the results of the presidential race to be ready by election day. Secretary Schmidt cited that large numbers of Republicans will vote by mail-in ballot adding to the volume that by law must be processed on election day. We find it unacceptable that the election results may not be called on election day. This potential resource shortage is known in advance and should be fixed by administrative action to comply with the law.

We are concerned that the government may ignore calling the election on November 5th. Secretary Schmidt faulted Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers for failing to pass a bill permitting pre-canvassing of ballots, perhaps preparing to blame-shift. Secretary Schmidt referred to counting ballots accurately and securely, however, fails to prioritize “legally.” Multiple news channels and even your PA website appear to be conditioning the public to not expect results on election day for lack of resources. The PA.votes.gov website that lists dates for election actions in 2024 warns: All dates in this calendar are subject to change without notice.

Governor Shapiro, Pennsylvania suffers under suspicion of election mismanagement or worse in recent elections. Many complaints and much evidence had been forthcoming but were either ignored or summarily dismissed. Past mismanagement included extending the counting days without properly securing counting facilities, accepting mismarked envelopes on mail-in ballots that proved to be invalid, yet the contents were counted. Contested prejudicial rulings were made but too close to the election for effective challenge.

We are inspired by your ability to handle extraordinary challenges as you did with the rapid replacement of the collapsed bridge span on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. As governor, you are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. The Secretary of State, who is responsible to oversee elections in Pennsylvania, was appointed by you and falls under your leadership and direction. It is certainly within your duty and capability to support the mandated, timely vote counting process.

For these reasons, the Franklin County Republican Committee believes it is imperative that you use your considerable managerial capabilities to ensure our vote counting operations have the full resources required to fully process ballots on election day.

Fred Young III
Chairman
Franklin County Republican Committee