Pennsylvania county stops fraudulent voter registration scheme

Election officials in Lancaster County, Pa., said Friday that they have stopped an organized effort to register voters illegally. In a news conference on Friday, Board of Elections commissioners and District Attorney Heather Adams said they have already found fraudulent registration applications and are investigating more. Commissioner Ray D’Agostino, chair of the Lancaster County Board of Elections, said as many as 2,500 applications are being reviewed for potential fraud. The board claims that two batches were delivered to the county at the last minute, and many of the applications were flagged for potential fraud. Issues included duplicate handwriting that matched other registration forms, inconsistent signatures, and inaccurate addresses and driver’s license numbers.

What happened? Adams said at least 60 percent of the applications reviewed so far have been found to be fraudulent, and the batches were filed on or after August 15. Election office staff began to flag the applications when they noticed the same handwriting across several documents. County detectives immediately began to investigate the applications and found false registrations. Adams reported that the detectives found legitimate residents of Lancaster County who confirmed they never filled out the application in question or signed it. D’Agostino said one or two organizations that have conducted voter registration drives are behind the batches, but he did not identify them. She said the canvassers were paid to get voter registration applications. Similarly suspicious batches were found in two other counties and are being investigated.

What is next? Lancaster County officials alerted the state attorney general’s office and the commonwealth’s department of state. The board of elections confirmed that some of the applications in the suspicious batches were verified and will still be processed. The Pennsylvania Department of State issued a statement applauding the Lancaster County election staff for catching the issues and notifying the state. The department and the state attorney general are also conducting investigations.

What is important about Lancaster County? Board of Elections Commissioner Alice Yoder said as of this week, the county has 365,210 registered voters, a county record. Across the commonwealth, canvassers are trying to get residents to vote. The process is legal as long as they conduct get-out-the-vote drives in public areas and do not unduly pressure voters. The voters themselves must be the ones to fill out the applications and sign them. The county has gained some attention this year because it leans Republican in a swing state. Conservative activist Scott Pressler has visited throughout the year to encourage voters to register and vote for former President Donald Trump. He has specifically targeted the Amish community in the area. On Friday, Pressler denied any involvement in the fraudulent applications investigation. He said that staff do turn in registration forms but the most they ever had was 400 applications in Luzerne County.

Dig deeper: Check out WORLD’s Election Integrity Encyclopedia to learn more about the laws surrounding election processes like canvassing, early voting, and more.