愛污传媒

Skip to main content

Pennsylvania county says 2,500 voter registrations being investigated for possible fraud

Workers prepare mail-in ballots for counting, Nov. 4, 2020, at the convention center in Lancaster, Pa. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) Workers prepare mail-in ballots for counting, Nov. 4, 2020, at the convention center in Lancaster, Pa. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Share
HARRISBURG, Pa. -

A criminal investigation is underway in the crucial presidential battleground of Pennsylvania after election workers in one county flagged about 2,500 voter registration forms for potential fraud. Two other counties were alerted to look for similar problems.

The forms arrived at the Lancaster County elections office shortly before the state鈥檚 deadline to register this past Monday and were apparently part of a larger effort to sign people up, officials said Friday. Some had false names, suspicious handwriting, questionable signatures, incorrect addresses or other problematic details.

Two other counties 鈥渞eceived similar applications鈥 and were notified to check into them, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said at a news conference. She declined to name the other counties.

鈥淚t appears to be an organized effort at this point,鈥 said Adams, an elected Republican. 鈥淏ut of course, it鈥檚 an ongoing investigation. And we鈥檒l be looking into who exactly participated in it and how far up it goes.鈥

The set of applications has been segregated during the investigation, preventing ballots from being sent to or cast by people until they are deemed valid. Pennsylvania鈥檚 19 electoral votes are being fought over as polls indicate the presidential contest in the state is a close race.

鈥淭he fact of the matter is, we鈥檝e contained this,鈥 Lancaster Commissioner Ray D鈥橝gostino, a Republican who chairs the election board, said at the news conference. 鈥淭his is not right. It鈥檚 illegal. It鈥檚 immoral. And we found it, and we鈥檙e going to take care of it.鈥

Adams and the county election board members did not say who dropped off the forms or whom they may have been working with.

D'Agostino said the applications were not limited to a single party and had been collected at various spots in Republican-majority Lancaster.

The Pennsylvania Department of State issued a statement Friday praising the elections workers 鈥渇or their diligent work in spotting this potential fraud and bringing it to the attention of law enforcement.鈥 The state attorney general's office, which was also contacted by Lancaster officials, declined to comment.

About three in five of the applications that have so far been fully investigated have had problems, Adams said. Other applications among the 2,500 have been verified as accurate and are being processed as normal, she said.

Most of the applications were dated since Aug. 15, and a majority of them were from Lancaster City. Adams said the applications were collected as part of a 鈥渓arge-scale canvassing operation.鈥

鈥淚n some cases, applications contained correct personal identification information, such as the correct address, correct phone number, date of birth, driver鈥檚 license number and Social Security number 鈥 but the individuals listed on the applications informed detectives that they did not request the form,鈥 Adams said. 鈥淭hey did not complete the form and verified that the signature on the form was not theirs.鈥

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.

Ontario will not allow international students in medical schools beginning in the fall of 2026, and will also cover tuition for more than 1,000 students who commit to becoming a family doctor in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Friday.

Here's a look at Musk's contact with Putin and why it matters

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and a key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A B.C. nurse has been suspended for one week for diverting narcotics from their workplace and using them personally, according to the regulatory body for the profession.

Winnipeg police are looking for a suspect after a woman's dorm room was broken into at the U of M and she was assaulted.

Local Spotlight

A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.