The election hasn’t happened yet - Trump is already spreading false voter fraud claims in Pennsylvania
Former president’s recent social media post exaggerates and mischaracterizes election investigations in state
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As Election Day nears, Donald Trump has shared false and exaggerated claims about the integrity of the vote in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
In a Truth Social post on Monday evening, Trump claimed multiple counties in Pennsylvania were experiencing major potential fraud, outpacing the facts on the ground.
“Wow! York County, Pennsylvania, received THOUSANDS of potentially FRAUDULENT Voter Registration Forms and Mail-In Ballot Applications from a third party group,” Trump told his millions of followers. “This is on top of Lancaster County being caught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms, all written by the same person. Really bad “stuff.” WHAT IS GOING ON IN PENNSYLVANIA??? Law Enforcement must do their job, immediately!!! WOW!!!”
The former president is closer to the truth in regard to York County. There, officials said last week they had received an unusually large volume of election-related materials, including voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications, from an unnamed third-party group.
Local officials said they’re still reviewing the materials and called on the public not to rush to conclusions.
"We don’t have a lot of details about these applications, so it’s important we not rush to judgment," Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said in a news conference on Monday, arguing that the flagged application materials were a sign that elections process was functioning as normal, with built-in checks and balances. "We hope for a speedy and accurate conclusion to the investigation and hearing from the county."
Trump is incorrectly describing the election investigation in Lancaster County.
There, officials announced last week some unspecified portions of a batch of 2,500 voter registration forms may be fraudulent, with some showing possible signs of duplicate handwriting and fake names and addresses. The county board of elections said in a statement that it was reviewing the materials, a sign that its “systems worked.”
Lancaster officials are not investigating “fake ballots,” as Trump claimed.
During the 2020 election, Trump frequently made false claims about the vote in Pennsylvania, which Joe Biden won by less than one percent.
Current polls show Trump and Harris virtually even in the state.
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