Statement of Common Cause Pennsylvania Executive Director Khalif Ali

In America, voters pick our leaders — our leaders do not pick and choose which voices to heed and which to silence. Common Cause Pennsylvania strongly condemns this blatant and undemocratic attempt by partisan operatives to undermine the will of the voters in Pennsylvania.  

Our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter can cast their vote and elect a representative of their choice. This request for the Pennsylvania congressional delegation to reject the slate of electors chosen by We the People is unconscionable. The results have been certified by both the Secretary of State and the Governor. The people have spoken. 

This is nothing less than a Hail Mary attempt to substitute the judgement of a few individuals – trying to placate some loud voices in their constituency — over the judgement of more than 6.9 million voters in Pennsylvania. It is undemocratic and it must be rejected.  

It’s indefensible that elected partisan operatives would attempt to undermine the voters’ will and the Constitution, rather than focusing on the real crises facing Pennsylvania families such as the surge in COVID cases and economic hardships. 

The 2020 election was extraordinary in many ways. Pennsylvania voters came out in record numbers. Our county elections officials worked tirelessly to run a smooth election in the midst of a global pandemic, while implementing the bipartisan Act 77. Organizers and leaders, particularly Black, Latinx, AAPI, Indigenous and other leaders of color, fought — as they do every year — to ensure that every Pennsylvania voter could cast a ballot and have it count.  

This is nothing less than a slap in the face to the 6.9 million Pennsylvanian voters who made their voices heard during this election cycle. Disagreement with an outcome of an election doesn’t entitle a party or candidate to try to throw out the results of that election. That’s not how our government works! In America, the voters decide. 

Common Cause Pennsylvania urges the duly elected members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation to reject this partisan ploy, to respect the will of the voters, and to follow the law by accepting the slate of electors received from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.