YORK COUNTY, Pa. — We're learning more about a large batch of suspicious voter registration forms delivered to the York County Elections Office.
“Nearly half of the applications that were received were legitimate and approved," said York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler.
Of the 3,087 forms, approximately 24% were declined. Many of them were found to be duplicate registration requests.
Another approximately 29% were deemed "incomplete."
“There’s a variety of reasons they could be incomplete but we have not approved them internally, we need more information from the applicants," said Wheeler.
All declined applications have been turned over to the York County District Attorney's Office.
“We are committed to integrity, safety, and security of our election," said Wheeler. "That is top priority, number one commitment. We are following the law, we’re following our process to ensure every eligible voter is able to vote in the manner they want and every legal vote is counted.”
The DA's office says that all voter registration applications referred for criminal investigation were assigned to the Chief County Detective, and final decisions regarding charges will be made by the First Assistant District Attorney Tim Barker.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday is up for election next week, and therefore, cannot be a part of the investigation.
You can read the full press release from First Assistant District Attorney Tim Barker here:
By way of update, the York County District Attorney’s Office received voter registration referrals for criminal investigation from the York County Board of Elections. These referrals are from the batch of 3,087 voter registrations received by the Board of Elections, as reported in their previously issued statement dated October 30, 2024.
All voter registration applications referred for criminal investigation were assigned to our Chief County Detective, who in turn is working with a team of County Detectives to investigate each application. The investigative process has multiple levels to it. Initial investigative review involves comparisons of the suspect applications to databases known and commonly used by law enforcement agencies. Following this initial aspect of the investigation, each application is then subject to further assignment to a specific County Detective, who will use all applicable investigative techniques to determine whether criminal activity has occurred. Following the completion of the investigation, the information gathered by our County Detectives will then be reviewed as a team with executive prosecutors within this office. Final decisions regarding whether charges are applicable will be made by the First Assistant District Attorney.
A critical component of these investigations and charging decisions will be centered upon evaluation of all available facts and if they constitute the elements of any crimes found in the election code or other areas of criminal law beyond a reasonable doubt. Specifically, we will seek to determine the intent behind the submission of the voter registration application. Clearly there is a difference between innocent mistakes and criminal intent. Where we find a criminal act occurred and the facts support the existence of a necessary criminal intent to commit that act, charges will be filed, and this office will prosecute.
The York County District Attorney’s Office treats any allegation of potential election fraud seriously and as a priority. Furthermore, as with every case investigated and prosecuted by this office, we will follow the law and every ethical standard that governs the role of a prosecutor. While we cannot comment at this time on any specific allegation referred to this office due to their ongoing investigation status, we want to assure the public that the procedures we have in place for investigating these matters and making appropriate charging decisions guarantee that a full and fair process is in place to enforce our election laws and seek justice.
This comes after an investigation into nearly 2,500 fraudulent applications in Lancaster County.
The Pennsylvania Department of State released the below statement to FOX43 on Thursday, regarding both the York and Lancaster County investigations:
The counties’ process to flag and investigate these potentially fraudulent voter registration applications show the safeguards built into our election system are working. As we await results of these investigations, it Is important to stress that the potential irregularities were found in voter registration applications, not ballot applications or returned ballots, and that these applications were not processed.
The reviews of these applications also provide an opportunity to highlight for voters that county election offices are staffed by professionals who know how to do their jobs and are doing them well, working closely alongside local law enforcement.
Secretary Schmidt has spent the last year visiting election officials in all 67 counties. The Department will continue working closely alongside the nonpartisan professionals dedicated to administering elections with integrity and ensuring every registered Pennsylvania voter is able to cast their ballot and make their voice heard in this election.
Election Day is set for Nov. 5.