Pennsylvania court allows inspection of Dominion voting machines in one county

Dominion voting machines in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, will be sent to the state Senate for inspection next month following a ruling by the commonwealth court, according to a press release Thursday by The Amistad Project.

“The court recognized that it was improper to demand that the county – which owns the machines, and has the responsibility of running the election along with the legislature – can’t determine whether the machines worked properly,” Amistad Project Director Phill Kline said. “As the judge noted, there’s no justification for preventing the county from looking at their own machines.” 

The inspection was scheduled for Dec. 22, but Democratic Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth Veronica Degraffenreid sued to prevent it. The judge ruled the investigation must go forward, but he allowed a short delay for both sides to determine a formal protocol for the inspection, which is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2022.

"Executive branch officials were trying to stop the inspection altogether, but the judge did not grant their emergency motion to stop the inspection," Amistad Project attorney Tom King stated. "They did not go to court seeking a delay; they sought to stop it, and they lost."

Degraffenreid came under fire in July for seemingly punishing Fulton County. She decertified county voting machines following a third-party audit organized by local officials.