Former President Donald Trump on Sunday repeated a false claim that officials in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County had found 2,600 fraudulent ballots written by the same person.
Trump is referring to a review of about 2,500 voter registration applications flagged for possible fraud in Lancaster County. Preliminary findings show that investigators identified hundreds of fraudulent applications and hundreds more that they were unable to verify.
The applications were related to a major campaign to register voters before the elections 2024 electionsofficials said. As of Monday, November 4, no suspects have been identified.
Voter registration forms are not the same as ballots and the forms were identified before processing, officials said.
Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the voter registration applications were ballots, while arguing they were evidence of widespread voter fraud in the crucial battleground state.
At least six Pennsylvania counties have announced investigations into possible fraudulent voter registration or mail-in ballots.
CBS News election law contributor David Becker told CBS News Philadelphia that this shows the vetting system in the Commonwealth is working, and that there are “checks and balances in place to ensure that there is not widespread fraud.”
“The election officials were diligent. They found some voter registration forms that didn’t look right. They flagged them. Some were legitimate… others they didn’t process. So there won’t be any fraudulent voters voting as a result of that,” Becker said.
Here’s what we know about the study.
Lancaster County
Officials said about 2,500 voter registration applications were identified as potentially fraudulent due to identical handwriting on some applications, same-day submissions and suspicious signatures. Of that figure, officials say just over 400 of those applications were fraudulent.
DA Heather Adams reported that some forms contained forged or false information. Commissioner Ray D’Agostino said 57% of flagged applications have been verified, 17% of which have been confirmed as fraudulent, and 26% are still under review, most of which are suspected as fraudulent.
York County
The Public Prosecution Service is investigating a quarter of 3,087 suspicious voter registration forms. The York County Board of Elections said so far 47% have been found to be legitimate, 29% have incomplete information and 24% are still under investigation. Of these, 85% are duplicate requests.
York County Chief Clerk Greg Monskie told CBS News on Friday that the forms were submitted by Field + Media Corps, an Arizona-based voter registration agency, and that the forms were all received in one batch.
The news outlet Votebeat previously reported that Monskie said Field + Media Corps submitted the forms on behalf of the Everybody Votes campaign, a national voter registration organization.
The Everybody Votes campaign told CBS News on Friday that “they have not been contacted by officials in Lancaster, York or Monroe counties regarding ongoing investigations and have no additional information regarding the forms involved. Our partners are working hard to ensure that all forms collected are collected. comply with all rules and regulations.”
Monroe County
Monroe County District Attorney Mike Mancuso said the county Board of Elections has classified 30 voter registration and mail-in ballot applications as “irregular.”
The district attorney’s office is investigating the ballots because they were not authorized by the person named as the applicant. In one case, a named applicant is dead, he said. Several forms have been traced to a specific person, he said.
Mancuso said 21 forms were submitted by a Lancaster-based affiliate of Field + Media Corps. Of those, 16 were found to be fraudulent, he said on November 2.
Cambria County
Cambria County Chief Executive Scott Hunt said 21 voter registration requests were identified as fraudulent because information such as Social Security numbers or addresses was inconsistent and the individuals listed did not respond to letters automatically sent by the system.
When no one responded, investigators went to the addresses listed on the forms and were told the person named did not live there or had not submitted the form, he said.
Lehigh County
The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said it is investigating suspicious voter registration applications.
DA Gavin Holihan told CBS News that about 40% of applications received around the deadline were invalid, and that number was likely to increase further.
The county received between 2,500 and 3,000, he said. About 1,500 came from one organization, local media reported.
Berks County
Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry said Berks County was among the counties where “apparent attempts had been made to file fraudulent voter registration forms.”
County officials had flagged about 1,300 registrations as suspicious, according to local reporting from WFMZ-TV.
“I want to be clear: These are voter registration forms – applications from people to vote,” District Attorney John Adams reportedly said in a phone call Friday with local Pennsylvania news channel Daily Voice. “These are not ballots.”
