Pennsylvania court grants public access to voting data in dispute from 2020 election's aftermath

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Associated Press

Pennsylvania court grants public access to voting data in dispute from 2020 election's aftermath


FILE - A polling judge, right, helps guide a voter's ballot into a voting machine during the Pennsylvania primary election, at Mont Alto United Methodist Church in Alto, Pa., on May 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press
Posted Apr 28, 2026 06:33:38 PM.
Last Updated Apr 28, 2026 07:03:46 PM.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Pennsylvania's high court ruled Tuesday that spreadsheets of raw data associated with every ballot are public records, providing access to the "cast vote records" that had been requested by an election researcher hired by the Trump Administration last year. ... The Democratic-majority Supreme Court said its unanimous decision was a way to "satisfy the voting public that our elections are safe, secure and accurate" while preserving the state constitution's requirement that votes remain secret.

The Lycoming County elections director in Williamsport had denied Heather Honey's request for digital copies from the 2020 presidential election, saying that would amount to letting her review the contents of a ballot box, one vote at a time. Cast vote records are created when a voter's choices are made electronically or scanned.

Pennsylvania election law provides wide public access to county election records, except for the contents of ballot boxes and voting machines and records of assisted voters. Lycoming Voter Services had argued its scanners and tabulators constitute voting machines and the cast vote records are the contents of ballot boxes.

As Honey did not live and vote in Lycoming County, she was succeeded in the litigation by three Williamsport area residents -- a local businessman, a retired state trooper and Republican state Rep. Joe Hamm. ... Their lawyer, Thomas Breth, said the data will allow people to review what happened in the hotly contested 2020 election. ... "In short, it's not solely about the past," Breth said. "It's about the future. This significantly improves election integrity moving forward in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

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Read more: https://halifax.citynews.ca/2026/04/28/pennsylvania-court-grants-public-access-to-voting-data-in-dispute-from-2020-elections-aftermath/

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Democracy Docket
‪@democracydocket.com‬

NEW: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that election officials in Lycoming County must hand over 2020 voting records to an election conspiracy theorist who's helping to lead the DHS.

The ruling could allow the Trump administration to use the data to push false voter fraud claims.

Court gives DHS conspiracy theorist access to 2020 election data
The ruling is a key win for election deniers and anti-voting activists, who frequently seek access to raw election files in order to push false conspiracies about mass voter fraud.
www.democracydocket.com
5:44 PM · Apr 28, 2026
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NEW: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that election officials in Lycoming County must hand over 2020 voting records to an election conspiracy theorist who’s helping to lead the DHS.

The ruling could allow the Trump administration to use the data to push false voter fraud claims.

— Democracy Docket (@democracydocket.com) 2026-04-28T21:44:29.344Z

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/court-gives-dhs-conspiracy-theorist-access-to-2020-election-data/

Court gives DHS conspiracy theorist access to 2020 election data

By Matt Cohen
April 28, 2026


Heather Honey, a conservative election researcher, leaves the federal courthouse in Harrisburg, Pa., Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Scolforo, File)

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that election officials in Lycoming County must hand over 2020 voting records to Heather Honey — an election conspiracy theorist currently serving in a leadership role at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The ruling is a key win for election deniers and anti-voting activists, who frequently seek access to raw election files in order to push false conspiracies about mass voter fraud. And it could allow the Trump administration to make use of the data for a similar purpose.

Honey filed a public records request in 2021, while she was a Pennsylvania-based anti-voting activist, seeking a digital copy of every vote cast in the 2020 election Lycoming County. The county denied Honey’s request, saying state election code did not allow for public citizens to gain access to ballot boxes and voting machine data.

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