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Trump tweets about Lancaster County registration applications; commissioners accuse LNP of perpetuating refuted accusations

Lancaster County Government Center, 150 N. Queen St. (Photo: Tim Stuhldreher)

The issue of voter registration in Lancaster County, and potential fraud, is now receiving national attention.

On Tuesday afternoon, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted about reports in Lancaster and York counties of investigations into potential registration fraud.

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN PENNSYLVANIA??? Law Enforcement must do their job, immediately!!!” the post said.

Trump’s statement exaggerates what local officials have said to date.

For starters, no “fake ballots” are involved. In both counties, officials reported receiving large batches of application forms last-minute from a third-party canvasser. At a press conference Friday, District Attorney Heather Adams said that fraudulent applications had been positively identified in two batches totaling about 2,600, and that about 60% of the applications reviewed raised red flags.

Other applications in the two batches are legitimate and are being processed, she said. And while some applications appear to be in the same handwriting, not all are.

In York County, officials reported the Elections Office receiving a large batch of voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications. President Commissioner Julie Wheeler said the materials are under review. She did not say fraud has been identified, only that if it is, the district attorney will be notified. The district attorney’s office confirmed that it will investigate and file charges if and when warranted.

In an online briefing Tuesday afternoon, Commonwealth Secretary Al Schmidt said the Department of State is providing guidance and will continue to support the Lancaster County and York County investigations.

“Ultimately, the county election offices and the investigative law enforcement agencies will determine whether any criminal charges are warranted,” he said.

Cease & desist letter

Friday’s press conference came several days after the Lancaster County commissioners went on the offensive against claims that county Elections Office staff had provided incorrect guidance about voter registration and mail-in ballots and had improperly placed a Franklin & Marshall College student’s voter registration status on hold.

Commissioners Josh Parsons and Ray D’Agostino accused F&M and LNP of spreading misinformation and defaming Elections Office staff. On Tuesday, they reiterated those accusations when an LNP reporter asked follow-up questions about a cease-and-desist letter the county sent to F&M on Oct. 23.

LNP reported on the letter in its Tuesday edition. F&M spokesman Peter Durantine told the newspaper that the letter “warned the college not to talk about county employees.”

An F&M student from Connecticut and college staff member Laura Medvic, co-chair of F&M Votes, were two of the three people who had told LNP they received incorrect guidance from the Elections Office. The third was a woman from Wisconsin.

Durantine said the college sent the county a rebuttal letter. F&M declined to provide the letter or rebuttal to media, including One United Lancaster. A request for the two documents made to the county was referred to its Right-to-Know officer and had not been responded to as of Tuesday afternoon.

Parsons said LNP’s story on the letter contained multiple false statements and statements technically true but phrased to make the county look bad. LNP’s and F&M’s allegations, he said, imply the “fantastical” notion that the county orchestrated a top-to-bottom conspiracy to disenfranchise F&M voters. He accused LNP of acting with malice.

Parsons told reporter Tom Lisi it’s evident that Schmidt, the Commonwealth secretary, “is working with you directly,” as demonstrated by LNP receiving an Oct. 21 letter to the county from Schmidt before the county did.

In the letter (PDF), Schmidt recaps the concerns regarding the handling of applications from individuals with out-of-state registrations and instructs the county to address them. The commissioners say that before Schmidt’s letter was sent, the county had already fully satisfied the Department of State that everything had been handled correctly and there were no violations.

The Department of State did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment. Previously, the department said it had taken action based on its own review of voter data, not news reports or public complaints.

Durantine told LNP that the college had never made accusations, only asked questions about registrations that had not been completed.

Lisi pressed the commissioners on why they had not sent LNP a cease-and-desist letter, too, and whether they had spoken directly with the individuals who said voter applications were handled incorrectly. Responding to Parsons’ claim that LNP had relied on anonymous sources, he said the only one not identified in print is the Connecticut student, and the county knows who he is.

Local advocate Gail Groves Scott asked if the county would support a third-party investigation. Surely there are timestamps and other hard evidence, she said.

There is, but it’s not immune to spin, Parsons said. Logistically, it’s impossible to finalize and process all applications right away, and some need additional information; that’s being used, he said, to claim that the county treated F&M students’ ballots differently. He and D’Agostino both ruled out a third-party review.

Commissioner Alice Yoder, the board’s sole Democrat, said she didn’t agree with sending the letter and would have preferred to resolve the issue through dialogue with F&M. That provoked incredulity and accusations of disloyalty from D’Agostino and Parsons.

“You’re standing against our staff?” D’Agostino asked. … “I think our staff’s going to be very interested in hearing that.” Parsons said he was unaware of Yoder having contact with an organization the county may soon face in court.

Yoder said she fully supports the Elections Office, and clarified that she was referring only to the contact she had with F&M the weekend of Oct. 19. Her colleagues are fully aware of that, and she hasn’t been in touch since, she said.