At least three counties in Pennsylvania are conducting investigations into potentially fraudulent mail-in ballot and voter registration applications just one week out from the presidential election. The investigations are taking place in Lancaster County and York County, in addition to one other county that was not identified.
In Lancaster County, District Attorney Heather Adams said the elections department received 2,500 voter applications suspected to be fraudulent. As of their latest update, the investigators determined 60% were fraudulent, while some are legitimate. The inquiry is ongoing.
“Lancaster County detectives began investigating the voter registration applications, and immediately found applications that were indeed fraudulent,” DA Adams said. “Indicators of fraud included: inaccuracies with the address listed on the applications, false personal identification information, as well as false names. A number of the applications also contain names that did not match the provided Social Security information.”
According to Adams, there were also applications with correct information, but the individual listed on the application said they didn’t fill it out.
“At this point, it is believed that the fraudulent voter registrations are connected to a large-scale canvassing operation for voter registrations that date back to June,” Adams said.
In York County, officials are investigating what they describe as an “overabundance” of voter registration forms and requests for mail-in ballots from a third-party organization.
York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler issued a statement obtained by the York Daily Record which said, “As with all submissions, our staff follows a process for ensuring all voter registrations and mail-in ballot requests are legal. That process is currently underway. If suspected fraud is identified, we will alert the District Attorney’s Office, which will then conduct an investigation.”
“It’s not unusual to get large stacks of voter registrations or large stacks of requests for mail-in ballots, it’s just this was an overabundance of registrations from one particular organization,” Wheeler told Fox 43. “We need to do our homework before we go and make accusations when we don’t have the data to back it up.”
Canvassing itself is legal. According to the ACLU, Supreme Court precedent allows groups to run programs that help people register to vote, encourage voting, and explain how, when and where to vote. An appeals court ruling states towns cannot require canvassers to get permits.
