The nonpartisan Committee of Seventy — founded, led and supported by over 60 business and civic leaders — has been monitoring elections in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania for 116 years. We have seen all varieties of bitter, contentious elections. We are as well-versed as anyone in Philadelphia politics — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Never before have we seen a sitting President attack the very foundation of the government and democratic process he swore under oath to defend and protect. President Trump’s baseless and outrageous claims are un-American and defile the U.S. electoral process we’ve maintained for the past 240 years.
Claims of massive voter fraud here in Philadelphia, the type that would sway an election, are completely unfounded. And they ignore the more than 400 Democratic and Republican candidates across the Commonwealth whose names are printed on the same ballots he threatens. We call on every candidate, regardless of their party, who shares a ballot in Pennsylvania with President Trump to renounce this incendiary rhetoric.
Irresponsibly attempting to shake our faith in the electoral process both defiles our nation and the Constitution. We should all question the motives of anyone who seeks to reject the legitimacy of ballots cast by registered voters and discounts the civic responsibility and accountability of our local election officials. President Trump’s repeated efforts to paralyze the democratic process here in Pennsylvania through disinformation and frivolous lawsuits are a shameful attack on the will of the people.
In this Commonwealth and in every state across the country, counted votes are legal votes, and every vote must be counted. Our votes have been cast. Now we are completing their count, and we must defend the integrity of that process. We must defend our democracy.