Three years after FBI got evidence of voter registration fraud, another new scheme emerges in PA

In the aftermath of the messy 2020 election, Michigan police sent to the FBI a strong body of evidence documenting a multi-state scheme to submit fraudulent voter applications. Three years later, nobody can explain what the bureau did with the case as a similar scheme has now surfaced in the battleground state of Pennsylvania with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.

Prosecutors in Lancaster County said Friday they had uncovered a large-scale scheme to submit fraudulent voter applications that were collected at shopping malls and other locations. Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams told a news conference that detectives have found about 60% of some 2,500 voter registrations submitted in recent days to the county's election office were fraudulent.

"At this point, it is believed that the fraudulent voter registrations are connected to a large-scale canvassing operation for voter registrations that date back to June," Adams said. The prosecutor said that while detectives continue to review applications, they have confirmed fake names, identifications, and signatures were used to submit applications and create potentially fake voters. In some cases, real voters' names were used but the voter said they neither approved nor signed the registrations.

"The District Attorney stated that the majority of applications were from residents in the City of Lancaster," according to a joint statement from the county District Attorney and the Board of Elections. "Applications were also received from residents in Columbia, Elizabethtown, Mount Joy, Akron, Ephrata, Stevens, Strasburg as well as other locations across Lancaster County. These canvasses took place at various shopping centers, parking lots of grocery stores, other businesses, sidewalks, and parks."

"At this point we have confirmed violations of our crime code," Adams said.

Large batches

Adams added that she was aware of at least two other counties that may have similar concerns about recent voter registration applications dropped off in large batches.

"Staff noticed that numerous applications appeared to have the same handwriting (and) were filled out on the same day," Adams said during the press conference. “The confirmed indicators of fraud that detectives came across were inaccuracies with the addresses listed on the applications, fake and false personal identification information, as well as false names," she continued. "Also, applications that had names that did not match the provided Social Security information."

Lancaster is a politically influential county in the battleground state and home to a large Amish population that both parties have courted. Pennsylvania's State Department, which oversees elections, praised Lancaster County for its quick actions.

"The Department has been in contact with the county and is offering support in its ongoing investigation. The Department applauds the efforts of the election staff for their diligent work in spotting this potential fraud and bringing it to the attention of law enforcement," the agency said in a statement.

"The Department guidance in cases like this is for counties to immediately contact law enforcement, which is exactly what Lancaster County officials did," the statement added.

Similar to Michigan scheme

The scheme uncovered in Lancaster County mirrors a similar operation that Michigan police investigated in 2020 in Muskegon that was referred to the FBI, which has yet to announce any arrests or charges.

In August 2023, the Michigan attorney general's office confirmed that there was a state investigation into thousands of suspected fraudulent voter registrations during the 2020 election. That investigation was referred to the FBI, the Bridge Michigan reported.

Danny Wimmer, press secretary for the Michigan attorney general, told Just the News at the time that among 8,000 to 10,000 voter registration forms that were submitted to the Muskegon clerk before the 2020 general election, some were, after review, suspected to be fraudulent. 

"An organization turned in some thousands of voter registrations throughout the fall of 2020, estimated on the high end to be cumulatively 8-10,000, and some within those batches were found to be suspicious or fraudulent," Wimmer said. "There were legitimate registrations within the batches. The city clerk receiving the batches alerted authorities when she began noticing irregularities."

"None of the fraudulent material was incorporated into the state’s qualified voter file, and this had no effect on any ballot requests or associated processes. This attempted fraud was detected because the system worked," Wimmer added. 

According to the dozens of pages of police reports from the Muskegon Police Department and Michigan State Police, a firm called GBI Strategies was under scrutiny as an organization central to alleged voter registration fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The matter was initially investigated by city and state authorities before the FBI took over in 2021.

The status and results of the FBI investigation are unknown as the agency denied a Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts request from Just the News regarding records from the investigation into GBI Strategies. The FBI's denial stated that the investigation "was still ongoing."

There is a business listing for GBI Strategies in Cordova, Tenn., but at least during the 2020 election, the company had a Philadelphia office, employees from Atlanta working in Michigan, and a supervisor in New York for Michigan workers, according to memos from police in Michigan. 

Wimmer told The Detroit News that GBI Strategies conducts voter registration drives and is headquartered in Tennessee.

The Michigan secretary of state’s office also previously told Just the News, “Michigan's 2020 election was found to be secure and accurate by hundreds of audits, numerous courts, and the Republican-led state Senate Oversight Committee.”

In response to a request for comment, the Lancaster County district attorney’s office shared the joint statement from the county district attorney and Board of Elections and stated, "As the District Attorney noted during the press conference, she will not be sharing any details on the actors at this time as it is still an ongoing criminal investigation."

Lancaster County detectives and the FBI didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.