Luzerne County officials say they found no fraud in a batch of voter registration applications delivered to the county by former elections employee Beth Gilbert on Oct. 21, the last day to register.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce issued a statement indicating the case dealt with "between 20 and 30" application forms, and investigation revealed "none of the registrations were fraudulent."
The findings refuted claims "ranging from allegations of thousands of voter registrations submitted to allegations that actual ballots were submitted," Sanguedolce wrote.
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo on Monday issued a similar statement.
"A review of the procedures employed by the election bureau in Luzerne County revealed no evidence or indications of fraud in voter registrations. All registrations were strictly scrutinized," Crocamo wrote.
Gilbert, the county's former deputy election director, serves as voting and elections manager with non-profit voting rights group In This Together NEPA.
Reached Monday afternoon, Gilbert said she would issue a statement.
Questions about the applications arose after conservative activist Scott Presler retweeted a video of Crocamo talking about the applications at an Election Board meeting. In the post, Presler called for an investigation into the late drop-off, saying "the details mimic a current investigation in Lancaster County."
In that video, Crocamo can be heard telling election board members that Gilbert "dropped off and dumped a numerous amount of applications. Most of them were dated in June."
Sanguedolce confirmed some applications dated to June. They included two intended for Lackawanna County and one Monroe County, he said.
"Those registrations were forwarded to the correct counties with a notice that they were submitted here in time for the registrants to vote in this general election," Sanguedolce said.
"All of the Luzerne County registrations were processed by the election bureau," he said.
Crocamo emailed county officials Friday to inform them voter registration processing was complete.
Lancaster County: 2,500 forms in focus
In the Lancaster County case, election workers "flagged about 2,500 voter registration forms for potential fraud," the Associated Press reported, and two other counties were alerted to look for similar problems.
"Our office is aware of media reports regarding election fraud in Lancaster County. Their district attorney indicated two other counties may have been targeted, and she had reached out to notify those officials," Sanguedolce said. "Luzerne County was not contacted, and we did not find any link between these submissions and the Lancaster County case."
Crocamo said she commends “the dedicated efforts of Lancaster County in combating voter application fraud,” adding that Luzerne County stands "firmly behind the initiatives of the Pennsylvania Department of State."
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Republican, has spoken about the challenges facing elections officials this year and what the state is doing to combat misinformation and fraud.
”Together, we can ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to participate in our democracy without the threat of fraud,” Crocamo wrote.
Walsh suit also mentions 2,500 ballots
The investigation in Lancaster County paralleled allegations made last week in a Luzerne County lawsuit.
On Friday, state House candidate Jamie Walsh sued Luzerne County and its elections board, claiming officials have taken too long to process voter registration and mail-in ballot applications.
That lawsuit was filed four days before the deadline to submit mail-in ballots had even passed. It alleges Luzerne County deliberately chose "to not timely process the approximately 2,500 additional new applications for voter registration" received before the Oct. 21 registration deadline."
Walsh's suit does not present specific evidence of how and when the alleged failures occurred, nor where the 2,500-ballot figure came from.
Walsh referred questions to Milford attorney Charles Kannebecker, who filed it. WVIA left a message with Kannebecker's office Monday afternoon seeking comment.
Crocamo previously said the county will hire an outside lawyer to respond to Walsh's suit. Asked about that Monday, she responded that no date had been set in the case.
