In election fraud quest, GOP seeks details on who voted

• Marc Levy/The Associated Press
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  Covering Pennsylvania politics, government & scandals for @AP. The wicked flee when none pursueth. @Colorado native. As honest as a Denver man can be.

(Harrisburg) — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s Senate pursuing what they call a “forensic investigation” of last year’s presidential election said Tuesday they plan to subpoena records that detail who voted, including their driver’s license number and the last four digits of their Social Security number, and how they voted.

Senate Republicans have scheduled a meeting Wednesday of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, which they control, to vote to issue subpoenas for the information from Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.

In addition to detailed records on precisely who voted, Republicans also say they plan to issue subpoenas for records of communication between Wolf’s administration and counties concerning elections from May 1, 2020, through May 1, 2021.

The idea of a “forensic investigation” or “audit” has been propelled by former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters in battleground states where he lost. Critics say it is a fruitless search for fraud to legitimize Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories that the election was rigged against him.

Democrats have vowed to fight any subpoenas, possibly in court, and it’s not clear whether Wolf’s administration can be forced to produce information, even by court order.

It also is not clear whether Wolf, a Democrat, will cooperate. His office said Tuesday that it will need to review the details of any subpoenas “before determining how to respond.”