The Facts

In May, 2022, Mike Miller ran for State Senate in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. On election day, County officials announced details that gave the Miller team pause. These events followed:

1. On election day, County announced that approximately 14,000 of the 22,000 ballots it received from ‘mail-in’ voters could not be counted by County’s scanners because the ballots had been misprinted. (County’s clerk testified that 8,000 ballots scanned without error).
2. County’s clerk testified that some ballots received from voters in Senate District 36 did not have Miller’s contest printed on the ballot, therefore those voters were unable to vote for Miller.
3. On May 17, 2022, County’s board directed County’s employes to procure and mark 14,000 ‘replacement’ mail-in ballots and to count these instead of the ballots returned by voters.
4. County reported the count of the replacement ballots instead of the ballots completed by voters.
5. Through Memorial Day weekend, approximately 120 voters in 40 precincts filed verified petitions into the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas demanding a hand count of Miller’s election on grounds they had information that the reported count was in error. The court denied the petitions and a hand count.
6. Mike requested detailed reports of County’s reported vote counts. After analyzing, he felt the data did not reflect natural voting behavior, and he published his findings.
7. On June 7^th, Miller submitted a public records request to the County to obtain copies of the mail-in ballots, which the law states are “designated and declared to be public records” (25 P.S. 3150.17). His request was denied by County’s commissioners, who claimed that the ballots “are not subject to public disclosure.”
8. Mike appealed County’s denial to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records [“OOR”]. The OOR ordered County to release the ballots to Miller. However, the commissioners did not comply. Instead, they told Mike he could look the ballots but not obtain copies.
9. Mike believes that any government actions to suppress the release of this information violates the Right to Know Law and the Constitution. Mike is now raising these questions in state and federal court.