‘Painstaking process’: Pa. county gives update on probe of suspicious batch of voter forms

The chair of a Pennsylvania county election board updated voters Monday on the status of 2,500 voter registration and mail-in ballot applications that had been flagged last month as potentially fraudulent and prompted a county and statewide investigation in the crucial swing state.

Speaking at a press conference, Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino said that of the 2,500 registration and mail-in ballot applications that had been flagged as suspicious, a 57% majority had been confirmed as valid, and 17% were confirmed to be fraudulent, he said. 

The remaining 26% of voter registration applications and mail-in ballot applications are either incomplete or unverified, he said, and remain under investigation.

“Those other two buckets are going to change, quite frankly, based on the continuing investigation,” D’Agostino said of the remaining applications, noting that the process of vetting the applications is a “painstaking process.”

A voter hands in her mail-in ballot at a Montgomery County voter services van in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Officials said the applications were marked as suspicious “during the staff’s normal process to review and enter applications into [a Pennsylvania database]” and law enforcement was alerted.

They noted that the forms in question either had false names, duplicative handwriting or unverifiable or incorrect identifying information. 

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Signs are seen outside a polling station at Palm Beach County Library during early voting in the presidential election. (Reuters/Marco Bello)

Both the local District Attorney’s Office and the Lancaster County Board of Elections have since been working to review and vet the applications. County election officials also immediately notified the Pennsylvania Department of State and the state attorney general’s office last month for further investigation.

D’Agostino declined to comment further on the status of those investigations Monday, though he told reporters that any individuals whose applications were potentially impacted as a result of the probe have been notified by the county. 

The applications in question are not limited to a single party, and were collected across various spots across Lancaster County last month. 

“I can’t give any more information” at this point, D’Agostino said Monday of the investigation, adding that county and state officials are “continuing to investigate” and take the matter “very seriously.”

The Pennsylvania Department of State confirmed its involvement in the probe late last month to Fox News Digital. It also applauded Lancaster County “for their diligent work in spotting this potential fraud and bringing it to the attention of law enforcement.”

“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,” the office told Fox News.

The update in Lancaster Monday comes just days after officials in Pennsylvania’s Monroe County said they are also investigating a much smaller pool of voter registration and mail-in ballot applications that had been set aside as potentially fraudulent.

These applications, believed to total around 30, were spotted by county board of election officials and referred to the district attorney’s office for further investigation.

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Voters received an “I Voted” sticker after casting their ballot. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry also sought to reassure voters in the Keystone State last week, noting in a press release Thursday that her office has been working with respective counties on the apparent attempts to submit fraudulent ballots and investigate any organizations that may be responsible. 

“While we will not be divulging sensitive information about these investigations, we want to clarify that the investigations regard voter registration forms, not ballots,” Henry said. “These attempts have been thwarted by the safeguards in place in Pennsylvania.”

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She added: “The investigations are ongoing, and offenders who perpetrated acts of fraud will be held accountable under the law.”

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