Democrats, Republicans, and Bucks County and state officials have seen no big signs of voter fraud in the recent election.
Over the past few days, LevittownNow.com has spoken with close to two dozen party volunteers, poll workers, elected officials, former and current campaign staffers, and non-elected officials about allegations of voter fraud.
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Every person this news organization spoke with – Democrats and Republicans – confirmed they had not observed or heard of any credible voter fraud allegations within the county.
President Donald Trump, his campaign, and some conservative websites and commentators have claimed there was widespread voter fraud. Many of the claims have been focused on Pennsylvania.
“There’s nothing to it,” one GOP politico said.
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Several Republicans who have been involved in campaigns noted that the claims of fraud appeared unfounded in nearly all cases. They pointed to the fact in Pennsylvania that there have been Democratic and Republican observers in election offices, increased security surrounding the election, and no major irregularities found.
Across Pennsylvania, there has been no widespread voter fraud discovered as of Saturday and the president’s campaign has been unable to provide evidence.
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No founded reports of fraud were made to Bucks County officials.
“We’ve had observers from both parties who have been there along the way,” Bucks County spokesperson Larry King said. “Observers have seen all the steps.”
“For the past several weeks, employees in the Bucks County Board of Elections have worked professionally to carry out a first-of-its-kind election during a pandemic. They put in 18- to 20-hour days, as well as weekends, with one goal in mind: to conduct an accurate and fair election. This week they were joined by hundreds of other county employees who signed up to work around the clock in shifts to help count the vote. The preservation of our democracy depends upon the dedication of its citizens. These employees showed their dedication to their community through their work this week. Any criticism of the integrity of this election is a direct attack on the integrity of those public servants. They are men and women of all backgrounds, ages and party affiliations. They include newly hired employees and others who have worked for decades for Bucks County. The respect they deserve, and the debt of gratitude we own them, is beyond measure,” the Bucks County Commissioners said in a bipartisan statement signed by all three.
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The Pennsylvania Department of State said told VOA News that they have received no founded complaints of voter fraud, aside from an incident Luzerne County where a man, a Republican, attempted to request an absentee ballot for his mother who died five years ago. The application, according to WNEP-TV, was flagged and the Luzerne County law enforcement filed charges against the man.
“Let me be very clear. I have no knowledge of any voter fraud. I have no knowledge of any misdeed,” said Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, a Republican from Centre County.
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“There’s simply no evidence anyone has shown me of any widespread corruption or fraud,” Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania, said Friday on CBS This Morning.
“The president’s speech (Thursday) night was very disturbing to me because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it,” Toomey also said.
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The election saw massive turnout – both with mail-in and absentee ballots and in-person voting in across the state – and had some routine voting problems, but no major issues were reported.
Republican officials seemed pleased with the apparent outcome of the election in the county and the state. Two noted that the GOP held important seats, likely flipped one state legislature seat in Central Bucks County, and the much-talked about so-called “blue wave” never materialized.
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A few Republicans noted that Trump falling behind Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden in the vote count might not be as bad for Republicans as some may think.
“Trump hurt Republicans in the suburbs. Just look at the row offices. That was because of voters disliking him,” one Republican said, citing Democrats flipping the county government majority since Trump’s election in 2016.
Several of the Republicans did note that they had complaints about how the election was handled by the Pennsylvania Department of State and with last year’s election law that received bipartisan support, but that they did not believe there was widespread cheating.
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“If we cheated and had that much power, why did Dems waste so much money and let Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham win? Why did Brian Fitzpatrick win?” one Democrat snarked in a text message.
In 2016, Trump won the election but still claimed that there was fraud for Democrat Hillary Clinton. The president pulled together a commission to investigate the alleged 5 million illegal votes but it found no evidence and disbanded.
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