HARRISBURG — A Republican-majority county board in rural northern Pennsylvania on Tuesday accused a state senator of creating “unnecessary chaos” in pushing for a detailed review of how the county collected and counted votes in former President Donald Trump’s reelection defeat last year.

The three Tioga County commissioners all read portions of a statement at a board meeting urging state Sen. Doug Mastriano to reverse his demand that Tioga and two other counties turn over election records and equipment to the Intergovernmental Operations Committee he chairs.

“It is time for Sen. Mastriano to withdraw his demands and to let responsible Republicans get back to work on subjects such as recovering from COVID-19, addressing the opioid crisis and the ‘help wanted’ issue,” the statement said.

Mastriano said a week ago he expected to have a committee vote within two weeks on his proposal to subpoena the elections material from the vote last November as well as from the May primary. There are indications he may face opposition from fellow GOP senators — so far he has not issued the public notice required for a committee to vote and Republican leaders in the Senate have not signaled their support.

The statement, supported by all three commissioners, said Mastriano “began his one-man quest with a false accusation” that not agreeing to his demand would indicate the county has something to hide.

By Associated Press