Former Gov. Tom Corbett at UPJ: No 'grand conspiracy' to sway elections
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Former Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, visited the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Wednesday to instill faith in the election process, with the 2024 presidential election 33 days away.
Corbett is an advisory board member of Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan civic education organization with a focus on ways to help strengthen trust in the U.S. electoral system.
The organization was founded in 2020, the same year then-President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that the election was rigged in favor of now-President Joe Biden.
"Elections are run by your next-door neighbor," Corbett said. "When you go to the polls, they ask you about your grandchildren. The idea that there is a grand conspiracy is beyond reality."
Corbett is also a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1993. His successor to that post, former U.S. Attorney Frederick W. Thieman, is also a member of Keep Our Republic. Both men headlined a panel discussion co-sponsored by Keep Our Republic about election integrity at Pitt-Johnstown.
Keep Our Republic board members have delivered educational panel discussions across Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – all swing states that could be pivotal in the 2024 presidential election between Trump, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Pennsylvania could be especially important. The 2020 presidential race ended with a victory for Biden, who was put over the edge by Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes.
"The whole state is broken down to 9,000 precincts," Thieman said. "If people are suspicious of Philadelphia because it's a big city, they should know it is made up of hundreds of precincts that operate the same as a rural precinct in Warren County."
After the 2020 election, Trump's campaign launched dozens of lawsuits alleging voter fraud in states including Pennsylvania. Judges, including those appointed by Trump and other Republican presidents, looked at the evidence in many cases and said there was no fraud.
A riot at the U.S. Capitol followed Jan. 6, 2021, when electoral votes were scheduled to be certified. Days away from the 2024 election, many people still believe the 2020 election was rigged.
"For four years, people have been told about conspiracies on social media," Corbett said. "We (Thieman and myself) are both prosecutors. If a conspiracy exists, then give me evidence. There's not one shred of evidence that anything illegal took place."
WTAJ-TV anchor and event moderator Marty Radovanic asked those in attendance – about 30 people and a dog – if anyone believed the 2020 election was rigged. No one raised their hand.
Those in attendance, including Jeff Duryea, of Richland Township, were concerned that people would again claim the Nov. 5 election was stolen after the results come in.
The panelists said the discussion was about educating attendees so that they could inform others about the election process.
"People have a fear of what they don't know," Thieman said.
Thieman took aim at one of the conspiracy theories from 2020 – that voting machines were tampered with.
"No voting machines are connected to the internet," he said. "The machines you vote on collect the votes onto a thumb drive, which is taken to a headquarters. It's not hackable."
Rob Beecher, deputy policy director for the Pennsylvania Department of State, and Cambria County President Commissioner Scott Hunt also served as panelists, talking about the processes, checks and balances of how votes are counted at the local and state levels.
"There are 125 voting precincts in Cambria County; five people work in each one of them," Hunt said. "Those people are working for the service of the county and our society. We have wonderful polling workers.
"When I was first on the ballot for commissioner, we voted on touch screens. We went back to paper ballots, which are then put into a machine. A flash drive is taken from the machine to the courthouse, where votes are tabulated and shared online. It takes hundreds of people to make the process work."
Thieman stressed the complexity of an attempt to rig an election.
"I'd rather rob 10 banks with my name on my back than try to figure out how to rig an election in 9,000 precincts across the state," he said. "The bottom line is the stories are way out ahead of the facts."
Keep Our Republic has hosted nine panel discussions across the state, including Wednesday's discussion at Pitt-Johnstown. One more is scheduled in Pennsyvlania prior to the Nov. 5 election.
