Trump’s repeated statements suggesting widespread fraud have been debunked by fact-checkers, judges and government officials. Following Joe Biden’s presidential win in Pennsylvania, some Republicans have sought to undo the law, and the matter is in litigation.įormer President Donald Trump, on his social media platform, Truth Social, used the Pennsylvania situation as another opportunity to attack voting by mail: 'Our Country should go to paper ballots, with same day voting. Republicans got one of their priorities included, too: elimination of straight-ticket voting. Voting by mail surged in Pennsylvania starting in 2020 as a result of Act 77, the 2019 law that established no-excuse mail voting, a provision pushed by Democrats. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, vetoed it, citing other aspects of the bill, including stricter voter ID requirements.

In 2021, lawmakers passed a bill that included earlier processing of mail ballots, but Gov. 'If the legislature had acted, this would have been discovered days if not weeks before, and could have been mitigated more effectively, allowing for rapid delivery of accurate results,' Becker said. So there was no way to spot the problem earlier.Įlection officials from both parties have urged the Pennsylvania General Assembly to allow for earlier processing of mail ballots. 'It appears that every single voter who cast a vote on a ballot with the printing error on it will have their votes counted correctly, thanks to procedures in place,' Becker said. But it’s worth noting that the problem was discovered as a result of checks and balances built into the system. Human error in elections happens from time to time, said David Becker, founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. The vendor, NPC, did not respond to PolitiFact.Įllen Lyon, a Pennsylvania State Department spokesperson, also said there is no indication the printing error resulted from fraud or malicious intent. Lancaster officials said the error occurred after the county had approved the vendor’s test ballots, which had the correct identification code. Lancaster County Detective Andrew Morgan, who works for the district attorney, told us that detectives had received no reports of fraud.

The day after the election, County Commissioner John Trescot told PolitiFact that there was 'no sign of fraud related to this printing error.' Voter fraud is becoming the accepted norm.'Īnother person tweeted of the Lancaster ballots: 'I see a major opportunity for voter fraud.'īut county and commonwealth officials told us there was no evidence of fraud. 'And of course there are mail in ballot discrepancies in Lancaster County, PA,' tweeted John Cardillo. On Twitter, some people suggested that it was a sign of voter fraud or something 'suspicious.' The Pennsylvania State Department said about 22,000 ballots were affected the county will duplicate ballots by hand and scan them over the next few days. on Election Day when officials opened up mail ballots and found that a significant number printed by the vendor, NPC, would not scan because they had the wrong identification code. The race may land within the half-percent margin to require a recount.Ī problem in Lancaster emerged after 7 a.m. On election night May 17, partially counted returns were too close to determine if Mehmet Oz or Dave McCormick would emerge as the winner. As the results of the Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary remained up in the air a day after the election, critics of voting by mail distorted a problem with mail ballots in Lancaster County.

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