An election watchdog has found 21,000 dead individuals still on Pennsylvania voter rolls in the final weeks of the 2020 election.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation, an election integrity group, says 92 percent of the registrants died more than a year ago. The group also says there is evidence of voting activity after death. The findings were mentioned in an amended lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of State over its failure to maintain accurate voter rolls.
The PILF says that as of October 7, 9,212 registrants have been dead for five years, 1,990 registrants for 10 years, and 197 registrants for 20 years. "Pennsylvania still left the names of more than 21,000 dead individuals on the voter rolls less than a month before one of the most consequential general elections for federal officeholders in many years," the group said.
"This case isn't complicated," said John Christian Adams, the PILF's president and general counsel. "For nearly a year, we've been offering specific data on deceased registrants to Pennsylvania officials for proper handling ahead of what was expected to be a tight outcome on Election Day. When you push mail voting, your voter list maintenance mistakes made years ago will come back to haunt in the form of unnecessary recipients and nagging questions about unreturned or outstanding ballots."
The complaint further claims 114 individuals registered to vote after death, and hundreds of votes were cast by deceased individuals in the 2016 and 2018 elections.
The amended suit was filed one day before Joe Biden grabbed the lead in Pennsylvania. Republican lawmakers have echoed concerns about voting irregularities. "When you're breaking the law, ignoring court orders, counting ballots in secret & threatening to steal the presidency, it's not 'PA's business.' It's America’s business, and we have the right to expect votes will be counted (1) fairly, (2) w/ transparency & (3) NOT in secret," Sen. Ted Cruz said on Twitter Friday.
Democrats say their expected margin of victory in Pennsylvania will far exceed the number of disputed votes in the state.
The Pennsylvania Department of State did not respond to a request for comment by press time.