By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) – Authorities in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania are examining 2,500 voter registration forms for potential fraud, officials said on Friday, less than two weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The forms were dropped off in two separate batches at the Lancaster County board of elections office before Monday’s registration deadline, according to Ray D’Agostino, a member of the elections board. Employees processing the forms noticed several red flags, including duplicate handwriting, inconsistent signatures and inaccurate addresses.
There was no obvious partisan motive, D’Agostino said at a news conference on Friday.
“It doesn’t seem that it’s any one party,” he said. “In some cases, they’re registering in different parties; in some cases, they’re just changing an address or appearing to change an address.”
Pennsylvania is among seven hotly contested swing states that will likely determine the winner of the presidential contest between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said investigators have concluded about 60% of the forms they have examined thus far are fraudulent. Two other counties, which she declined to name, are reviewing similar batches of applications, she said.
“It appears to be an organized effort at this point,” she said.
The forms were connected to a large-scale effort to register voters that took place throughout the summer, in which canvassers were paid to obtain applications, Adams said. She did not say whether there was a specific organization behind the registration drive.
Any applications that are found to be legitimate will be processed.
“I want to stress this: no eligible voter will be turned away,” D’Agostino said.
Trump has falsely claimed the 2020 election was marred by fraud and has warned that this year’s race could be tainted as well. Voter fraud is exceedingly rare in the U.S.
In announcing the investigation, officials emphasized that the early discovery of the fraudulent applications shows the security protocols surrounding the election are working.
On Thursday, Colorado officials said they were investigating a scheme in which a dozen ballots were intercepted before reaching voters, filled out and returned via mail to a county clerk. The fraudulent ballots were flagged by the state’s signature verification process.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
