The “Stolen Votes” That Weren’t: Voter Fraud Probe Deflates Trump’s Rally Rhetoric

Details about a continuing investigation revealed by a Republican county commissioner at an election board meeting on Monday undercut claims made by former President Donald J. Trump and others about widespread voter fraud in Lancaster County, Pa.The commissioner, Ray D’Agostino, said that 17 percent of voter registration forms that had been flagged as suspicious there had been found to be “fraudulent,” and that 26 percent of the suspicious forms were still being reviewed.The county would not give the total number of registration forms at issue.But the county was clear that there was no evidence of fraudulent ballots, a fact that stood in stark contrast to a claim made by Mr.

Trump at a Sunday rally that “they found 2,600 ballots” — not voter registration forms — “all done by the same hand” in Lancaster County. Mr. Trump’s remarks at the rally, in Lititz, Pa., built on a series of claims that he made last week in speeches and on social media.The episode, which is still under investigation, is quickly becoming central to claims by Trump and his allies that Democrats are trying to steal 19 electoral votes in a crucial battleground state.“They’ve already started cheating in Lancaster,” Mr. Trump said a few days earlier, at a rally in Allentown, Pa.There have been no reports of fraudulent ballots in Lancaster County.A spokesman for the county said that the number of forms at issue was “as many as 2,500” but declined to be more specific.The office of the Lancaster County district attorney…  , Heather Adams, said last week that it had found “hundreds” of forms to be fraudulent.Also last week, the state attorney general announced an investigation into potentially fraudulent voter registration forms that were intercepted by county officials in Lancaster, York, Berks, and Monroe Counties. The attorney general’s office is working with county authorities on the investigation; to date, no charges have been filed.Investigations into voter registration fraud, often prompted by errors made by contractors who are hired by campaigns and grass-roots organizations to register voters, have been a common feature of recent elections in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. But it is rare for those investigations to result in charges.“They’ve already started cheating in Lancaster,” Mr.

Trump said a few days earlier, at a rally in Allentown, Pa.