AG Shapiro Requests Court Strike Down Subpoenas for Private Voter Information

October 14, 2021 | Topic: Peoples AG

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed a motion today asking the Commonwealth Court to order that a subpoena issued by State Senators Cris Dush and Jake Corman is illegal. The Senators’ subpoena demands access to personal information of nine million Pennsylvanians, which the Senators then plan to turn over to an unidentified third party.

“Pennsylvanians’ fundamental rights are under attack,” said AG Shapiro. “These Senators are using their position of power to demand voters’ personal information, all so that they may continue to lie about our elections. It is time for public officials to move past the Big Lie and to start reminding the public that our elections are accurate, fair, and secure.”

The motion points out both that Senator Dush has given shifting explanations for why he is demanding voters’ personal information, and also that none of those various justifications have any plausible connection to voters’ identifying information. And neither Senator Dush nor Senator Corman have cited any evidence suggesting why the information is needed.

The motion notes that the Senate Committee Senators Dush and Corman are using for this effort has not established basic security protocols that would minimize the risk of unauthorized disclosure or misuse of private voter information. Senator Dush has not even ruled out that he may hire a vendor with connections to some of the biggest perpetrators of the Big Lie to review every Pennsylvanians’ personal information.

As has been noted time and again, including by the former head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, “[t]he 2020 election was the most secure in U.S. history.”

Opposition to today’s brief is due by October 22, with the Office of Attorney General’s reply due by October 29. The Senate’s final reply is due November 5. Arguments have yet to be scheduled.

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