Officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, have uncovered what they believe to be up to 2,500 fraudulent voter registration applications submitted near the registration deadline, reportedly linked to a “large-scale” canvassing operation.

Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams revealed that at least two other Pennsylvania counties have launched similar investigations following this discovery.

The issue came to light when the Lancaster County Board of Elections notified Adams about irregularities with a batch of 2,500 applications.

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According to Adams, election staff observed several suspicious indicators, including numerous applications filled out on the same day with similar handwriting, signatures that did not match those on file, and submissions for individuals who were already registered voters.

Lancaster County investigators quickly confirmed cases of fraudulent applications. “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 stated.

Additional information reported by The Western Journal indicated that some applications contained correct personal information, but when investigators contacted those individuals, they said they had neither requested nor filled out the forms.

Moreover, these individuals confirmed that the signatures on the applications were not theirs.

Adams disclosed that the alleged fraudulent applications appear connected to a canvassing operation active since June.

The District Attorney’s Office found that roughly 60 percent of the applications reviewed so far were deemed fraudulent, though investigations remain ongoing.

While Adams confirmed that similar irregular applications have been found in at least two other counties, she refrained from naming them, allowing those county officials to address the matter publicly. “At this point, we have confirmed violation of our crimes code as well as our elections code,” Adams added. “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.”

BREAKING: Lancaster, Pennsylvania officials have BUSTED a large-scale fraudulent voter registration scheme that includes thousands of applications with the same handwriting, fake signatures, false addresses, etc

They discovered the same scheme in other Pennsylvania counties.… pic.twitter.com/xiN320U9jY

— George (@BehizyTweets) October 25, 2024

Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino addressed the potential political motivations of the canvassing operation when asked if it seemed to favor a particular party. “It doesn’t seem that it’s any one party,” he noted. “In some cases, they’re registering in different parties.”

Adams clarified that for the upcoming general election, the key concern is ensuring that only eligible voters are on the registration rolls. “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,” she said.

Conservative activist Scott Presler, whose organization Early Vote Action has been active in Pennsylvania voter registration efforts, denied any involvement in the fraudulent submissions.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, Presler emphasized, “Our staff turn in voter registration forms as we register voters.” He explained that Early Vote Action does not retain applications for extended periods, as was the case with the Lancaster applications dating back to the summer. “The most forms we’ve ever turned in at one time was 400 in Luzerne County,” Presler added.

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 released a statement on Friday commending Lancaster County election staff for detecting and reporting the suspicious registrations. “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, noting that Lancaster County officials followed the Department’s guidance to immediately contact law enforcement.

Full statement from the Department of State:

“The Department of State is aware of the allegations of voter registration fraud identified by the Lancaster County Board of Elections and its District Attorney this morning. The Department has been in contact with the county and is offering support in its ongoing investigation. 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 Department guidance in cases like this is for counties to immediately contact law enforcement, which is exactly what Lancaster County officials did. As their officials noted, grassroots efforts to register voters across the Commonwealth are important and legitimate, and the safeguards in the system allowed them to identify and isolate these suspicious applications. No eligible voter will be denied the ability to register, and the Department encourages any residents who recently registered to vote to check their voter registration online to ensure its accuracy, which can be done online at www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx. As the county’s efforts show, multiple safeguards exist to ensure the integrity of our elections, and Pennsylvanians can have confidence that this November’s election will be safe, secure, free, and fair.”

Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder encouraged voters to verify their registration status, polling location, and mail ballot application status on the Department of State’s website, per WGAL’s report. “And we encourage everyone to do that,” Yoder said.

Watch the full press conference held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, yesterday:

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