Temporary contractors in Pennsylvania’s war-torn state mistakenly threw a mail-in ballot in the trash for President Donald Trump, county officials revealed.
A top federal prosecutor announced Thursday that his office is planning to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government in 2020. An investigation has been launched into a number of discarded mail-in ballots cast in the presidential election.
The incident caught the attention of Trump who claimed as evidence that the mail-in ballot could not be trusted and was susceptible to fraud.
The Lucerne County Election Bureau claimed it stemmed from an administrative error and did not know who the vote was for until it was announced by the Justice Department earlier this week.
The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Pennsylvania is examining nine discarded ballots in the state, seven of which were for President Donald Trump. County officials said Friday that votes were mistakenly thrown in the trash by temporary workers.
Pennsylvania is a crucial battlefield state in the 2020 election
Lucerne County Manager c. David Pedri said in a statement on Friday that the temporary independent contractor had “incorrectly discarded the office fee trash in the Yumova ballot”.
Yumova is an acronym for Military and Foreign Voter Ballot.
Ballot papers were found in a dumpster next to the election building.
Pedris said the worker’s start was on Sept. 14 but the error was reported two days later by Luzern County Electoral Director Shelby Vochilla.
‘Ms. Watch Chila immediately began an internal investigation and reported it directly to its supervisor. The temporarily independent contractor was removed from service and was reported not to return. ‘
W Watch Chila ‘contacted the Lucerne County Office of Fisheries Law who investigated the matter and advised that authorities need to be notified’.
A request was then made to the district attorney’s office.
Pedri added that ‘all the waste from the Election Bureau’ was collected during the three days the contractor was working there was ‘placed in a dumpster and kept safe by Lucerne County staff’.
Every bag of rubbish from the entire building in Dumpster was inspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Luzern County District Attorney’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, as well as Luzern County staff. All matters of concern were taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. ‘
In a highly unusual public statement Thursday, U.S. Central District of Pennsylvania Attorney David Fried said his office fees and the FBI were contacted Monday by Lucerne County District Attorney Stephanie Salavantis amid concerns of potential issues with his number and the number of mails. Voting in the Luzern County Board of Elections.
He said his office could confirm that “a small number of military ballots” had been cast.
Of the nine ballots that were canceled and then reclaimed, seven were put up for presidential candidate Donald Trump. The two ballots, which were canceled by Luzerne’s election staff before being recovered by the FBI, were reissued in their proper envelopes and the contents of those two ballots are unknown. ‘
Ballot papers from the military and foreign voters were found in a dumpster outside the building
Fried added, “Our investigation has revealed that all or almost all the envelopes received at the election office were definitely opened on the matter.”
‘It was explained to investigators that the envelopes used for official foreign, military, absentee and mail-in ballot requests are so similar, that employees believed that adhering to the protocol to save envelopes without opening them would lose such ballot requests.’
In an earlier statement posted online, Fried’s office fee originally claimed that all nine ballots were cast for Trump. The link was abruptly removed later in the day on Thursday, and a revised statement was issued.
Dawn Clark, a spokesman for Fried’s office, said the ballot was “inappropriately opened” by county staff.
News of the investigation in Pennsylvania will add fuel to Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming election, which was conducted by Trump in 2016 with 44,000 votes.
He has repeatedly insisted, without evidence, that the mail-in would lead to widespread vote-rigging. Democrats, meanwhile, have encouraged voting by mail so Americans can vote safely during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Attorney General William Barr, pictured with Trump, briefed the president on the invalid ballots before the investigation was announced Thursday.
Democrats have promoted a mail-in ballot due to the picture epidemic, the DC Board E Elections Event Vote Safe DC campaign that encourages residents to vote by mail.
ABC reports that Attorney General William Barre personally briefed the president on the ballot shortly before the investigation was announced.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he had a ballot in his name, on which he found a trash-paper basket.
‘We have to make sure the election is honest and I’m not sure it can come. I don’t know if it could be with this whole situation, uncontrolled ballots, ’Trump said.
He later spoke on Fox News Radio where he again argued that mail-in voting would lead to widespread election fraud.
‘They were Trump ballots – eight ballots in office fees yesterday – but in a certain state and they were – they wrote on Trump on it, and they were thrown in the trash. That’s going to happen, “Trump said in an interview.
‘This is going to happen, and we’re investigating.’ ‘
U.S. in the central district of Pennsylvania. The statement from Attorney’s Office did not mention “fraud”.
Critics of the White House have said the incident is being used politically to support Trump.
‘This is an ongoing investigation where there is no public interest reason to override the general policy of not commenting – and not specifically to say for whom the ballot fell. An unprecedented contribution to the presidential campaign ‘Matthew Miller, former director of the Justice Department’s public affairs office fees, said on Twitter.
However Trump’s team advanced the story as evidence.
‘Democrats are trying to steal the election,’ tweeted Matt Walking, deputy director of communications and quick response to the Trump campaign.
Earlier this week, Trump claimed that the winner of the presidential race would not be identified on election day – predicting a protracted dispute between the two parties over a week when he refused to ban a peaceful transfer of power.
Trump’s remarks about the contested election during a speech in Atlanta may be a combination of what many political observers are warning.
It claims its own repeated attacks on mail-in voting and that the election on Thursday was ‘not honest’.
“I don’t know the status of this ballot anymore,” he said during a speech on black economic empowerment.
‘You won’t see it November 3rd. Democrats play games. You see that, ‘Trump said.
He told the crowd: ‘But you are doing November if not November 3, hopefully soon. I know you are raising your hand, we can be in dispute with me for a long time, because that’s the way they want it.
Trump added, ‘But we’ll end up winning, that’s for sure.’
He mocked the idea of going beyond the limits of the Constitution, which could put him in two points.
‘I told you he is a dictator! He will not relinquish power! Trump said. ‘Under no circumstances will he relinquish power. He wanted to serve at least two more terms. ‘
Trump then remarked that there is ‘a little sarcasm’ and how he booms people that ‘twelve more years!’
Trump is a huge jerk. Gown
In addition to attacking mail-in voting, he made statements that the method used by millions of Americans shows the disproportionate share of voting to Joe Biden by mail.
According to ABC, ballet envelopes cannot be opened until the canvas is turned.
County is expected to properly store and maintain the security of the return ballot by such time.
Pedri said the county will now ‘try to contact the voters involved and process their votes’.
Provides additional training to all staff and a security plan in the Election Bureau to ‘actively monitor and ensure that all staff adhere to proper procedures and protocols’.
FBI Director Christopher Ware recently discussed fraudulent voting and said it had never been seen in a major election.
During a Senate hearing Thursday, he said that historically, no major election has seen any attempt to defraud national voters, whether by mail or otherwise.
Fried said in a statement that the investigation into his office fees was “ongoing.”
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