York County in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania is looking into an “overabundance” of voter registration forms and requests for mail ballots that were sent to the elections office after another county received thousands of voter registration forms that were flagged for potential fraud.
The York County elections office received a “large delivery containing thousands of election-related materials from a third-party organization,” including voter registration forms and mail-ballot applications, York County president commissioner Julie Wheeler said in a statement to the York Daily Record.
“As with all submissions, our staff follows a process for ensuring all voter registrations and mail-in ballot requests are legal. That process is currently underway. If suspected fraud is identified, we will alert the District Attorney’s Office, which will then conduct an investigation.”
Pennsylvania is a crucial battleground in next week’s election, and both Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are seeking the state’s 19 electoral votes in what polls indicate is an extremely close contest.
Advertisement
Wheeler told Fox 43 on Monday: “It’s not unusual to get large stacks of voter registrations or large stacks of requests for mail-in ballots, it’s just this was an overabundance of registrations from one particular organization.”
She added: “We need to do our homework before we go and make accusations when we don’t have the data to back it up.”
Wheeler has been contacted for further comment via email.
A person drops off a mail-in ballot on October 15, 2024, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Officials in York County in Pennsylvania are looking into potential fraud following a large delivery of election-related mail. A person drops off a mail-in ballot on October 15, 2024, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Officials in York County in Pennsylvania are looking into potential fraud following a large delivery of election-related mail. Hannah Beier/Getty Images
Wheeler’s comments come as an investigation is underway in Lancaster County, where officials said fraudulent voter registrations had been found among 2,500 forms that arrived at the county elections office shortly before Pennsylvania’s October 21 deadline to register to vote.
Election workers had “noticed that numerous applications appeared to have the same handwriting, were filled out on the same day with unknown signature, and some were previously registered voters (…) and the signatures on file did not match the signatures on the application,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams, an elected Republican, said at a news conference on Friday.
Advertisement
About 60 percent of the applications that have been investigated so far have been identified as fraudulent, Adams said, though she did not disclose the total number of applications that have been investigated fully. Her office has been contacted for comment via email.
Adams said issues with the applications included false names, false personal identification information and inaccurate addresses.
“In some cases, applications contained correct personal identification information, such as the correct address, correct phone number, date of birth, driver’s license number and Social Security number but the individuals listed on the applications informed detectives that they did not request the form,” she said. “They did not complete the form and verified that the signature on the form was not theirs.”
She said it is believed that the fraudulent registrations are connected to a “large-scale canvassing operation” dating back to June. However, she said most of the applications date from August 15 and a majority were from residents in Lancaster.
It “appears to be an organized effort at this point,” Adams said, but noted the investigation is ongoing. “We’ll be looking into who exactly participated in it and how far up it goes,” she said.
Advertisement
Adams said two other counties, which she did not name, had received similar applications that are under investigation.
RICHMOND TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two firefighters traveling in a utility vehicle along a Pennsylvania road during a search for a missing woman were killed in a head-on crash with a car, officials said.
The two members of the Walnuttown Fire Company died after the crash with a Toyota Camry at about 6 p.m. Saturday, roughly 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia. Fire Chief Jeff Buck and Assistant Fire Chief Robert Shick Jr. were heading north when they were struck by a sedan heading south on Route 222, according to the Berks County Coroner.
NBC Philadelphia reported that the utility vehicle was riding on the shoulder of Route 222 when the Camry swerved off of the road. Police told the station that a male and a female who were in the Camry when it crashed fled and were later arrested.
Video from the crash scene shows the utility vehicle on its side.
Advertisement
No further details about the arrest or the search for the missing woman were immediately available Sunday.
A call and an email seeking information were made to the Fleetwood Police Department.
Autopsies on the firefighters, both residents of Fleetwood, were scheduled for Monday.
“At this time we would like to send our thoughts and prayers” to the Shick and Buck families, the Walnuttown Fire Company said in a Facebook post. “Rest easy chiefs, we got it from here.”
A toddler was lightly injured by a wolf at a Pennsylvania theme park zoo after he crawled under a fence and stuck his hand into the animal’s enclosure, officials at the zoo confirmed Sunday.The child was never inside the wolf habitat at the ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, which is part of the Hersheypark theme park, and the officials characterized the injuries as minor without elaborating.After the “unsupervised” child reached the metal enclosure around the wolf habitat on Saturday morning and put his hand through, a wolf approached “and made contact with the child’s hand,” according to a statement from the zoo.”This type of response is consistent with natural animal behavior, and was not a sign of aggression,” the zoo said in a statement. “Our habitats are designed with multiple layers of protection, and clear signage and barriers are in place to help ensure safe viewing. Guests are expected to remain within designated areas and closely supervise children at all times.”The zoo is part of the entertainment complex in Hershey, Pennsylvania, featuring a chocolate-themed amusement park. The zoo’s website says it has three gray wolves.Hersheypark made headlines last summer when a lost boy wandering a monorail line above a crowd was rescued by a park visitor who climbed onto a building and jumped onto the rails. The child was unharmed and reunited with his family.
HERSHEY, Pa. —
A toddler was lightly injured by a wolf at a Pennsylvania theme park zoo after he crawled under a fence and stuck his hand into the animal’s enclosure, officials at the zoo confirmed Sunday.
The child was never inside the wolf habitat at the ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, which is part of the Hersheypark theme park, and the officials characterized the injuries as minor without elaborating.
Advertisement
After the “unsupervised” child reached the metal enclosure around the wolf habitat on Saturday morning and put his hand through, a wolf approached “and made contact with the child’s hand,” according to a statement from the zoo.
“This type of response is consistent with natural animal behavior, and was not a sign of aggression,” the zoo said in a statement. “Our habitats are designed with multiple layers of protection, and clear signage and barriers are in place to help ensure safe viewing. Guests are expected to remain within designated areas and closely supervise children at all times.”
The zoo is part of the entertainment complex in Hershey, Pennsylvania, featuring a chocolate-themed amusement park. The zoo’s website says it has three gray wolves.
Advertisement
Hersheypark made headlines last summer when a lost boy wandering a monorail line above a crowd was rescued by a park visitor who climbed onto a building and jumped onto the rails. The child was unharmed and reunited with his family.
Michigan State football has locked in an official visit with an intriguing defensive back prospect from Pennsylvania.
Trey Hopkins of Wyndmoor, Pa. announced on Saturday that he’s scheduled an official visit to Michigan State for late May. According to a social media post from Hopkins, he will visit Michigan State on May 29.
Hopkins is currently unranked and unrated on 247Sports. He is listed at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, and plays for La Salle College. His position is listed as cornerback.
Michigan State extended Hopkins an offer in late February, and is one of nearly 20 schools to offer him, according to 247Sports. Other than his offer from the Spartans, Hopkins has received offers from Penn State, Maryland, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest, USF, Temple, James Madison, Liberty, Miami (OH) and some other group of five or FCS programs.
Advertisement
Michigan State will be the first of three currently scheduled official visits for Hopkins. According to 247Sports, he will also take official visits to Virginia Tech (June 5) and Penn State (June 11).
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
