Pennsylvania Officials Investigating Up to Thousands of Fraudulent Voter Registration Applications

Officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, announced Friday they have discovered up to 2,500 fraudulent voter registration applications that were submitted near the deadline as part of a “large scale” paid canvassing operation.

Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams told reporters at least two other Pennsylvania counties have opened investigations into the matter, according to a report by Lancaster NBC affiliate WGAL-TV.

Adams recounted that on Tuesday, the Lancaster County Board of Elections Office informed her of problems with a batch of 2,500 applications dropped off at their location.

“Staff noticed that numerous applications appeared to have the same handwriting, were filled out on the same day with unknown signatures, and some were previously registered voters and the signatures on file did not match the signatures on the application,” Adams explained.

Lancaster County investigators “immediately found applications that were indeed fraudulent,” she said.

“Indicators of fraud included inaccuracies with the addresses listed on the applications, false personal identification information, as well as false names. A number of the applications also contained names that did not match the provided Social Security information,” Adams noted.

However, in some cases all the application information was correct, but when those listed on the form were contacted by investigators, they reported never having requested or completed the registration application. Further, the residents verified signatures on the applications were not theirs, the district attorney noted.

Adams went on to point out that the applications all were part of a “large-scale canvassing operation” dating back to June.

The DA said that so far, investigators found 60 percent of the applications they have reviewed from the batch have been deemed fraudulent, but their work is ongoing.

“We are aware of at least two other counties that received similar applications that are currently being investigated,” Adams said, but she declined to name the other counties, telling reporters that those officials should speak to the issue themselves.

She concluded, “At this point, we have confirmed violation of our crimes code as well as our elections code. We have all available detectives working on this. We are all hands on deck so that we can properly assess the validity of these applications in a timely manner. If needed, we will request additional assistance from our local police departments.”

WGAL reported that Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino, when asked if the canvassing operation favored a particular political party, responded, “I can say … it does not appear at this point. It doesn’t seem that it’s any one party. In some cases, they’re registering in different parties.”

Adams added, “For the general election, it really wouldn’t matter. What we are concerned about is the fact that if there are fraudulent voters … If there are voters on the books that shouldn’t be, it increases the chance that we’re going to have voter fraud.”

Conservative activist Scott Presler, whose organization Early Vote Action has been registering voters in Pennsylvania, posted on social media platform X that it is unequivocally not his group.

“Our staff turn in voter registration forms as we register voters,” he wrote. He said they didn’t hold onto applications with dates going back to the summer months, as was the case in the Lancaster batch of 2,500 that is now under investigation.

“The most forms we’ve ever turned in at one time was 400 in Luzerne County,” Presler further noted.

Statement On Lancaster:

It’s been brought to my attention that Lancaster County has uncovered a voter registration fraud operation.

According to the report, the majority of those 2,500 voter registration applications were turned in at or near the deadline & are dated August…

— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) October 25, 2024

The Pennsylvania Department of State said in a Friday statement that everything happened as it should have regarding the fraudulent registration applications in Lancaster County.

“The Department applauds the efforts of the election staff for their diligent work in spotting this potential fraud and bringing it to the attention of law enforcement,” the statement read.

“The Department guidance in cases like this is for counties to immediately contact law enforcement, which is exactly what Lancaster County officials did.”

Alice Yoder, a Lancaster County commissioner, said voters can confirm their registration status, polling location, and mail ballot application status on the Department of State website, WGAL reported.

“And we encourage everyone to do that,” she added.

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