Keystone Today

On October 25, the Lancaster County Board of Elections announced that it had identified and contained incidents of suspected voter registration fraud, prompting an investigation by local law enforcement.

According to a press release, approximately 2,500 voter registration applications were dropped off at the Board of Elections Office in two batches near the registration deadline. Concerns were raised during the routine review process, leading staff to alert law enforcement. The applications have since been segregated for an extensive multi-step review. This process includes checks for duplicate handwriting, inconsistent signatures compared to existing records, unverifiable addresses, and inaccurate driver’s license or Social Security numbers. The investigation by Lancaster County Detectives revealed instances of fraudulent applications.

“In some cases, applications contained correct personal identification information such as the right address, phone, DOB, driver’s license and social security number, but the individual listed on the application informed Detectives that they did not request the form, did not complete the form and verified that the signature on the form was not theirs,” according to the press release.

County Commissioners Ray D’Agostino, Josh Parsons, and Alice Yoder, alongside Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams, held a press conference to provide updates on the situation.

Adams indicated that the preliminary investigation suggests these fraudulent voter registrations are linked to a large-scale canvassing operation initiated in June. Most of the problematic applications were dated from August 15 and later. Canvassers, who were reportedly employed and paid for their efforts, approached potential voters in various locations, including shopping centers and public parks.

“Thus far of the investigations that we have completed, we have determined that 60% have been fraudulent,” Adams said.

When asked if the fraud was linked to any political party, D’Agostino indicated that, at this stage, there is no evidence suggesting it is associated with any specific party.

“In some cases, they're registering in different parties. In some cases, they're just changing an address or at least appearing to change an address,” D’Agostino said.

The Board of Elections is working closely with the District Attorney’s Office to further investigate these applications. Verified legitimate applications will be processed normally, while fraudulent submissions will be handled accordingly.