Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus Demands Action on Voter Registration Fraud

Harrisburg, PA — In response to troubling reports of fraudulent voter registration applications in Lancaster and Cambria counties, the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus is calling on Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt to rescind the 2018 Department of State directive concerning HAVA-matching that prohibits county election boards from denying applications or preserving pending status when an applicant's identity cannot be verified. This directive poses a significant risk to the integrity of our electoral system, further eroding the Department’s perception of safe and secure elections.

Over the past weeks, Lancaster County officials reported receiving approximately 2,500 suspicious voter registration applications, with 60% identified as fraudulent.  Similarly, Cambria County flagged 21 applications that did not match existing records, prompting several other counties to conduct investigations over shared concerns.  Just yesterday, York County announced it had uncovered thousands of suspected fraudulent registrations and mail ballot applications.  These findings underline the need for counties to have authority over their registration processes to reject or hold applications when identity verification fails.

The Freedom Caucus urges Secretary Schmidt to direct counties to conduct a comprehensive review of all voter registration applications received during this election cycle.  The current practice of rubber-stamping registrations lacking valid identity verification or sending mail ballots to questionable applicants is simply irresponsible.  By maintaining the deeply flawed directive, Secretary Schmidt is hindering counties’ efforts to safeguard against potential voter fraud.

“The Department’s directive creates dangerous loopholes that are being exploited to undermine our elections,” stated David Zimmerman, Representative for Lancaster and Berks counties and member of the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus. “We urge Secretary Schmidt to rescind this directive immediately, enabling county election boards to deny unverifiable applications when they are received.”

As we approach another critical election, it is imperative that our county officials are able to take swift and decisive action to protect the rights of legitimate voters while addressing any attempts to compromise our electoral process.  If Secretary Schmidt is serious about having free and fair elections in Pennsylvania, it’s time for him to step up and rid our county officials of this pernicious mandate.