State Rep. Garth Everett, R-Muncy, said the formation of an oversight election entity lambasted by critics who claim it’s a partisan attempt by Republicans to thwart democracy is merely a means for ensuring a fair and accurate voting process.

“There is a lot at stake and people are very contentious about it,” he said.

House Resolution 32, passed by the House State Government Committee 15-10, would create the Select Commission on Election Integrity.

The bill now goes before the full House.

During a meeting of the Committee last week, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, called the bill a “fraud” and “a fatal blow to democracy” while Gov. Wolf claims it’s a partisan attack on the integrity of state elections undermining the authority of counties and the state to administer elections.

“I don’t see that it does that,” Everett, chief sponsor of the bill and chair of the House State Government Committee, said.

Select committees, he noted, are nothing new.

This committee, Everett explained, would gather information and make recommendations.

“People forget sometimes that the Legislature established the Election Code and how elections are conducted. The Department of State doesn’t do that. It’s well within our authority to provide guidance going forward,” he said.

The Select Commission would consist of five members appointed by the House speaker — three Republicans and two Democrats — and would have subpoena powers.

Pennsylvania is considered a key swing state in the November election that will decide who sits in the White House in the next four years –President Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

But Everett dismissed the notion of political shenanigans at play.

“It has to do with the fact that this is the first time we are doing mail-in balloting. The demand for ballots is great,” he said. “It just so happens that this is a very contentious election.”

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania also called into question the need for a commission, claiming it’s “redundant to existing legal structures.”

Language of the resolution, the group claims, calls into question the integrity and effort of the Department of State “at a time when that department has been working heroically to safeguard the election and provide appropriate guidance in a time of confusion.”

Everett called for additional action to ensure election integrity.

The House earlier this year voted to advance an election reform bill to address the timelines and handling of mail-in ballots.

House Bill 2626 amends the Pennsylvania Election Code to specify where and when absentee and mail-in ballots may be applied for and submitted; sets reasonable deadlines for voter registration and changing party affiliation; and contains enhanced penalties for election fraud.