PRINTER'S NO. 15
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 7
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY DIAMOND, BOROWICZ, COOK, COX, FLOOD, GLEIM, IRVIN,
JONES, KAUFFMAN, KEEFER, M. MACKENZIE, R. MACKENZIE, MALONEY,
METCALFE, E. NELSON, PUSKARIC, RAPP, ROWE, RYAN, SILVIS,
SMITH, ZIMMERMAN AND MOUL, JANUARY 11, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 11, 2021
A RESOLUTION
1 Declaring, in response to significant activities contravening
2 the Pennsylvania Election Code, that the November 3, 2020,
3 Pennsylvania General Election to appoint electors of
4 President and Vice President is unlawful, void ab initio and
5 invalid, and that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has failed
6 to appoint electors of President and Vice President on the
7 day prescribed by law; and exercising the plenary power of
8 the General Assembly, under the Constitution of the United
9 States, to appoint electors of President and Vice President.
10 WHEREAS, Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution
11 of the United States empowers state legislatures, including the
12 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to direct
13 the manner of appointing electors of President and Vice
14 President of the United States; and
15 WHEREAS, The authority to conduct elections is further
16 prescribed in Article VII of the Constitution of Pennsylvania;
17 and
18 WHEREAS, Section 5 of Article I of the Constitution of
19 Pennsylvania states "Elections shall be free and equal"; and
20 WHEREAS, Section 6 of Article VII of the Constitution of
 1 Pennsylvania states "All laws regulating the holding of
2 elections by the citizens, or for the registration of electors,
3 shall be uniform throughout the State"; and
4 WHEREAS, Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution of
5 Pennsylvania states "The legislative power of this Commonwealth
6 shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a
7 Senate and a House of Representatives"; and
8 WHEREAS, The General Assembly has exercised its authority to
9 establish election administration procedures for the
10 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the act of June 3, 1937
11 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code; and
12 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code requires all mail-in
13 ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on the day of the election; and
14 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code requires election
15 officials at polling places to authenticate the signatures of
16 in-person voters; and
17 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code requires that county
18 boards of elections shall not meet to conduct a pre-canvass of
19 absentee and mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day,
20 during which time defects on mail-in ballots would be
21 identified; and
22 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code prohibits the
23 counting of defective absentee or mail-in ballots; and
24 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Election Code authorizes the use of
25 watchers, selected by candidates and political parties, to
26 observe the process of canvassing absentee and mail-in ballots;
27 and
28 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania conducted an
29 election on November 3, 2020, for the purpose of appointing
30 electors of President and Vice President of the United States;
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 1 and
2 WHEREAS, On September 17, 2020, less than seven weeks before
3 the November 3, 2020, election, the Supreme Court of
4 Pennsylvania unlawfully and unilaterally extended the deadline
5 for mail-in ballots to be received and mandated that ballots
6 mailed without a postmark would be presumed to be received
7 timely and could be accepted without a verified voter signature;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, On October 23, 2020, less than two weeks before the
10 November 3, 2020, election and upon a petition from the
11 Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court
12 of Pennsylvania ruled that county Boards of Election need not
13 authenticate signatures for mail-in ballots, thereby treating
14 in-person and mail-in voters dissimilarly and eliminating a
15 critical safeguard against potential election crime; and
16 WHEREAS, On November 2, 2020, the night before the November
17 3, 2020, election and prior to the prescribed time for pre-
18 canvassing mail-in ballots, the office of the Secretary of the
19 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encouraged certain counties to
20 notify party and candidate representatives of mail-in voters
21 whose ballots contained defects; and
22 WHEREAS, Predominantly Democratic counties permitted mail-in
23 voters to cure defective ballot submissions while predominantly
24 Republican counties followed the law and invalidated defective
25 ballot submissions; and
26 WHEREAS, In certain counties in the Commonwealth of
27 Pennsylvania, watchers were not permitted to meaningfully
28 observe the pre-canvassing and canvassing activities relating to
29 absentee and mail-in ballots; and
30 WHEREAS, Officials in the Executive and Judicial branches of
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 1 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania infringed upon the General
2 Assembly's authority under the Constitution of the United States
3 and the Constitution of Pennsylvania by issuing decisions and
4 providing guidance contravening the express provisions of the
5 Pennsylvania Election Code; and
6 WHEREAS, Election officials in certain counties of the
7 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acted upon those decisions and
8 guidance by the Executive and Judicial branches of the
9 Commonwealth; and
10 WHEREAS, Election officials in certain counties of the
11 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took further actions to contravene
12 the provisions of the Pennsylvania Election Code; and
13 WHEREAS, 3 U.S.C. § 1 states "The electors of President and
14 Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday
15 next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year
16 succeeding every election of a President and Vice President";
17 and
18 WHEREAS, The aforementioned events tainted and doomed the
19 entirety of the process of appointing electors of President and
20 Vice President on the day prescribed by law; and
21 WHEREAS, 3 U.S.C. § 2 states "Whenever any State has held an
22 election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to
23 make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be
24 appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the
25 legislature of such State may direct"; and
26 WHEREAS, Article VI, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution
27 of the United States states "This Constitution, and the Laws of
28 the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and
29 all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority
30 of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and
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 1 the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in
2 the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
3 notwithstanding"; and
4 WHEREAS, The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 purported to certify the returns of Pennsylvania's election to
6 appoint electors of President and Vice President on November 24,
7 2020, and the Governor issued a certificate of ascertainment of
8 presidential electors on the same day; and
9 WHEREAS, There are significant outstanding issues regarding
10 the public's ability to confirm the returns as certified
11 regarding electors of President and Vice President; therefore be
12 it
13 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives do the following:
14 (1) Declare the aforementioned to be findings of fact.
15 (2) Condemn all infringement on the General Assembly's
16 authority to establish election law pursuant to the
17 Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
18 Pennsylvania.
19 (3) Declare the November 3, 2020, election process for
20 appointing electors of President and Vice President for the
21 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as neither equal nor uniform,
22 but instead as unlawful, void ab initio and the results
23 thereof invalid.
24 (4) Dispute the certification of electors of President
25 and Vice President by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of
26 Pennsylvania and the Governor on November 24, 2020.
27 (5) Declare that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has
28 failed to appoint electors of President and Vice President on
29 the day prescribed by law in 3 U.S.C. § 1.
30 (6) Exercise its portion of the General Assembly's
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 1 plenary power regarding electors of President and Vice
2 President as provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of
3 the Constitution of the United States.
4 (7) Affirm the General Assembly's authority to pursue
5 the aforementioned under the provisions of Article VI,
6 Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States.
7 (8) Exercise its portion of the General Assembly's
8 authority to decertify and withdraw the electors of President
9 and Vice President certified by the Secretary of the
10 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Governor on November 24,
11 2020.
12 (9) Reserve its portion of the General Assembly's
13 authority to appoint electors of President and Vice President
14 on a subsequent day in accordance with 3 U.S.C. § 2.
15 (10) Urge the Congress of the United States to recognize
16 the General Assembly's authority in these matters, and to
17 object to, and reject, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's
18 electors for President and Vice President as certified by the
19 Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
20 Governor on November 24, 2020, as well as any votes cast by
21 those electors;
22 and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That, upon passage, this resolution be transmitted
24 to the Governor, the Congress of the United States and the Vice
25 President of the United States.
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