Report: Pennsylvania is sending ballots to unverified applicants
Pennsylvania lawmakers are demanding answers after the state mailed out almost a quarter of a million ballots to voters without a verified ID.
“That is an enormous number of ballots, which, according to the law, must be set aside and not counted for the 2022 General Election unless the voter produces ID,” argues State Rep. Frank Ryan in a letter sent to acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Leigh Chapman.
Pennsylvania is a key battleground state and the results of its November 8th election will determine not only the state’s Governor but also positions within the US House and Senate.
The fact that ballots were sent out without applicants’ information being verified will force jurisdictions to go after that information themselves, argues Ryan.
“What level of additional staffing is allocated for counties to attempt to contact and verify the identity of these quarter of a million ballot recipients?” asks Ryan. “Many of these unverified ballots are likely the result of transposition of numbers or letters, but the purpose of the law is to ensure integrity. The law requires matching therefore all must be set aside and ID verified prior to being counted.”
The problem is likely related to a 2018 directive from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office that instructed Pennsylvania counties to register voters without first verifying their ID.
The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office is historically uncooperative, notes Ryan, and an audit conducted in 2019 confirmed the office lacked a reliable system for keeping track of election records.
During a hearing held in September, Deputy Secretary for Elections and Commissions Jonathan Marks told Ryan that counties are required to send mail-in ballots to all requesters even if they submit invalid identification. Less than two weeks after his testimony, however, the Pennsylvania Department of State issued guidance informing jurisdictions that they must verify an applicant’s ID before sending the ballot.
“Either the ballots are mailed to unverified applicants or ballots are not mailed to unverified applicants, but both statements cannot be true,” argues Ryan.
The rules for voting are different than the rules for voter registration, explained Marks during the hearing. There is no state or federal requirement that a person’s Social Security number or Transportation Department ID number matches. “With mail-in balloting, it is a requirement,” he added. “If when you apply, your PennDOT ID cannot be verified or your last four of SSN cannot be verified, the county can still issue the ballot, but the ballot does’t count unless the voter provides a valid form of ID.”
The problem, explains Ryan, is that county election officials “can and do count the ballots” even in situations where a ballot is mailed to an unverified voter and that person fails to provide the necessary documentation. “In addition, several counties report that they can and do ‘fix’ the invalid ID in the system and accept the ballot (with no action taken by the voter).”
In other words, it’s very possible that the quarter of a million ballots that shouldn’t be accepted will be.
With support from 14 other GOP lawmakers, Ryan is asking Chapman to require all Pennsylvania counties to certify that all ballots sent to requesters without valid identification be set aside and that the invalid information provided be recorded.
“[It’s] really frustrating that nobody’s doing anything about this,” complains election integrity organization Verity Vote, which initially exposed the ballot issue in Pennsylvania.
It’s like the 2020 presidential election all over again, laments Phil Kline, director of the election integrity nonprofit Amistad Project. “The Left has refused to abide by commonsense procedures, laws, and rules that make it easy for legitimate voters to vote and difficult for fraudulent voters and people to commit fraud.”
Sources:
Lawmakers Want to Know Why Pennsylvania Sent Out 240,000 Unverified Ballots
A bunch of cheating dumbocrap bastards.
Let’s make it simple. A registered voter must have some form of unique ID, such as a state ID card or a driver’s license. They receive a mail in ballot, fill it out, and then enter the ID number from their card. This card shows their valid street address, and the state may also have an email address entered by the voter when they registered. The ballots get counted, with any having duplicate ID numbers being set aside. Then, a physical letter or an email is sent to the voter informing them that their ballot was counted. If, for any reason, the voter challenges this, an investigation ensues. That would eliminate any multiple ballots from the same voter and eliminate all mail in ballots not actually mailed by the voter.
The democrats that did this should be jailed. The crime is against the people of this country by negating the peoples votes with illegal votes. Voter fraud should be a felony! Jail every one of them!
Did someone actually say Democrats did this? Did someone say only Democrats received these? Obviously NOT one single fraudulent vote has been cast yet and no one knows if any will be; just that a possibility exists. It’s mail in so OBVIOUSLY that means Democrats and that means Democrats did it on purpose as part of their nefarious scheme.
But don’t walk, jump to those conclusions. It’s all Democrats for Democrats in a state where both exist. It’s a swing state stupid.
What did the story really say:
By law, these ballots need to be sent out. If it’s a partial match on verification numbers, they must be sent out. There is no political party in this. It’s just that Federal does not require these id’s on registration; the STATE does upon voting.
The commissioner, albeit could have been stated better, set up the alarm this was happening because of Federal law on the output and the “fix” on the State level that while ballots went out unverified, not vote is accepted on the inbound unless verified.
Is there a problem; the state legislators say there can be: “”Election directors,” Verity Vote said, “are trying to do the right thing and fix it for people for their ballot to be counted.” But while they have “pure motives,” the law is supposed to be correctly applied, and “it’s possible that ballots that shouldn’t be accepted, could be.”
IOW, the number will never be 250,000 and no way would these be all Democrats. They are validating each vote before acceptance but there is some questions about the sanctity of the process. To be determined.
But there is no fraud here, yet. There is no conspiracy. This is just the law, the process, legislators attempting to be sure every voted is counted and ever counted vote is validated, and a elections official trying to explain the process of how that is going to happen.
Worth watching but hardly a smoking gun except for the knee jerkers out there. At least according to your own links in the story.
Vote integrity is the most important issue right now.
None of these other issues matter if our votes aren’t valid.
It should be concern of any body that votes, regardless of Party.
The technology is available to to clean up this mess. It doesn’t seem like anyone is pursuing it.
If we can’t be confident that our vote counts, why even bother voting ?
Fact is that if your feel there is no integrity in the our voting process, you already espouse The Big Lie and only winning will convince you the system is fair and honest. So, yeah, why should any of us bother given most of you feel this way.
There is no valid proof that our votes are invalid. For 2020, over 65 legal cases proves that point. Are you saying our national legal system has zero integrity too? Bush, Trump, and Obama judges tossed most of these cases for LACK OF EVIDENCE. Lawyers lost licenses, got reprimands and re-training.
There is no valid proof that our votes are invalid. For 2020, a half dozen states conducted recounts. Many of these were done by Trump-approved resources. Not one proved any reason to believe there was a lack of integrity in the system. Voters lost millions in ruined, tampered, equipment since no one can trust that which Trump-approved resources leave behind (would work the same way if anyone had done the recounts; they just trash the machines after).
Just because you LOSE, it does not mean THEY cheated. In 2020, it just meant you lost.
I am all for voter integrity. I am also all for greater access, just can’t figure out why I can’t internet my vote in for example. There is just no proof that there’s a lack of integrity that actually changes the end result. At least not in 2020 at the national levels. At least based on the evidence of 65 Trump-initiated court cases and a half dozen State recounts by Trump people no less.