District Attorney Heather Adams has announced that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office will take over the investigation into the hundreds of alleged fraudulent voter registrations delivered to the Lancaster County Voter Registration Office in October 2024, just prior to the voter registration deadline for the November general election.

The District Attorney’s Office discussed the status of the investigation with representatives from the Attorney General’s Office and other counties with similar investigations in mid-November. During that meeting it became clear that the investigation spanned several counties.

In January, the Attorney General’s Office informed the District Attorney’s Office that they would take the lead on the multi-county investigation. The District Attorney’s Office has since provided the Attorney General’s Office with investigative materials and evidence related to the investigation.

“I want to thank the Lancaster County Detectives who worked diligently on this investigation over the past several months and commend them for the work they did in advancing the investigation,” District Attorney Adams said. “It is clear, however, based on the information shared between several investigative agencies that the Attorney General’s Office is best suited to handle this multi-county investigation moving forward. I have complete confidence that the Attorney General’s Office will continue to investigate this case and hold those who committed voter registration fraud and other crimes responsible for their actions.”

District Attorney Adams also commended the Lancaster County Voter Registration Office for their work in discovering the suspected fraud.

“Because of their diligence we were able to announce this discovery and the launch of our investigation to alert other counties to be aware of voter registration fraud as well as to deter those responsible for the applications from any plan of turning fraudulent voter applications into fraudulent votes,” District Attorney Adams said. “With the election fast approaching, this announcement was critical in stopping any plans of future illegal conduct that could have impacted our elections process here in Lancaster County.”

Detectives with the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office reviewed 1,203 applications provided by the Lancaster County Voter Registration Office. Of those applications, 367 were verified, 383 were found to contain fraud and 453 were unable to be verified and are therefore suspected to be fraudulent.

Other details of the investigation will not be released as the investigation is ongoing.

All future media inquiries regarding the investigation should be directed to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

The voter registration applications were submitted to the Lancaster County Voter Registration Office at or near the deadline for registering to vote. Election workers noticed irregularities while preparing to process the applications and immediately notified the District Attorney’s Office.

Indicators of fraud included incorrect or non-existent addresses, false personal identification information as well as false names and incorrect social security information. In other cases, applications contained accurate voter identification information, but the application was determined to be forged.

The fraudulent voter registrations are believed to be connected to large-scale canvassing operations for voter registrations dating back to June 2024.