Secretary of State Decertification of County Equipment Following Independent Audit – Retaliatory Denial of Access (PA)

Following Fulton County’s independent forensic examination of its Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5 server – which revealed uncertified database tools, EMS changes three weeks before the election, and missed Logic and Accuracy inspections – the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth decertified Fulton County’s Dominion machines. The stated basis was not the substantive irregularities found, but that Fulton County had permitted a third-party independent consultant to inspect its equipment. Fulton County sued, arguing the decertification was retaliatory. The practical effect of the Secretary’s action was to use regulatory authority to punish a county for exercising legitimate audit rights – thereby preserving the vendor’s privileged access to election system information while suppressing independent governmental scrutiny of that access.