Prosecutors in key Pennsylvania county say they've busted a fraudulent voter registration scheme

In a fresh blow to Americans' confidence in elections, prosecutors in a key Pennsylvania county said Friday they had uncovered a large-scale scheme to submit fraudulent voter applications that were collected at shopping malls and other locations.

Lancaster District Attorney Heather Adams told a news conference that detectives have found about 60% of some 2,500 election registrations submitted in recent days to the county's election office were fraudulent.

"At this point, it is believed that the fraudulent voter registrations are connected to a large-scale canvassing operation for voter registrations that date back to June," Adams said.

The prosecutor said that while detectives continue to review applications they have confirmed fake names, identifications and signatures were used to submit applications and create potentially fake voters. In some cases, real voters' names were used but the voter said they neither approved nor signed the registrations.

"At this point we have confirmed violations of our crime code," Adams said.

She added that she was aware of at least two other counties that may have similar concerns about recent voter applications dropped off in large batches.

"Staff noticed that numerous applications appeared to have the same handwriting (and) were filled out on the same day," Adams said during the press conference. 

“The confirmed indicators of fraud that detectives came across were inaccuracies with the addresses listed on the applications, fake and false personal identification information, as well as false names," she continued. "Also, applications that had names that did not match the provided Social Security information."

Lancaster is a politically influential county in the battleground state and home to a large Amish population that both parties have courted.

Pennsylvania's State Department, which oversees elections, praised Lancaster County for its quick actions.

"The Department has been in contact with the county and is offering support in its ongoing investigation. The Department applauds the efforts of the election staff for their diligent work in spotting this potential fraud and bringing it to the attention of law enforcement," the agency said in a statement.

"The Department guidance in cases like this is for counties to immediately contact law enforcement, which is exactly what Lancaster County officials did," the statement added.

The scheme uncovered in Lancaster County mirrors a similar operation that Michigan police uncovered in 2020 in Muskegon that was referred to the FBI, which has yet to announce any arrests or charges.