False: There is evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.

By: Annie Priya
November 13 2020

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No major findings of fraud or irregularities have been found in the 2020 presidential elections in Pennsylvania.On Nov 7, US media called the presidential race for president-elect Joe Biden. President Trump has refused to accept the presidential election results and has repeatedly been claiming voter fraud and irregularities without presenting any concrete evidence. Among those, the claim that there was widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania, a state which Biden won, has gained traction among the president's supporters, especially after Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer held a news conference in the parking lot of a Philadelphia landscaping company and claimed that the election had been rife with fraud. On Nov 9, the Trump campaign launched a lawsuit to stop the certification of election results in Pennsylvania. His legal team argued that in-person voters faced more scrutiny than mail-in voters. USA Today reported that legal experts said Trump's case had little chance of succeeding, for multiple reasons. "Courts are wary of invalidating legally cast ballots. The issues raised, even if true, don't represent a constitutional question. And mail voting, used in many states, is both common and constitutional," it said. According to The Washington Post, one of Trump's lawyers, Jonathan S. Goldstein, was grilled by a Pennsylvania judge. Under questioning, he acknowledged that, contrary to Trump’s claims about rampant voter fraud, he wasn’t alleging fraud in the 592 ballots he sought to disqualify in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. When the judge asked him, "Are you claiming that there is any fraud in connection with these 592 disputed ballots?" Goldstein replied, "To my knowledge at present, no." On being questioned further by the judge whether there was any undue or improper influence upon the elector concerning these 592 ballots, Goldstein repeated his words: "To my knowledge at present, no." On Nov 10, 2020, the New York Times reported that election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the presidential race. Jacklin Rhoads, a spokeswoman for Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is Pennsylvania’s attorney general, told The New York Times, "Many of the claims against the commonwealth have already been dismissed, and repeating these false attacks is reckless. No active lawsuit even alleges, and no evidence presented so far has shown widespread problems.” A report on voter fraud published by the Brennan Center for Justice said, "extensive research reveals that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators. The same is true for mail ballots, which are secure and essential to holding a safe election amid the coronavirus pandemic." Most allegations of fraud turn out to be baseless. Numerous other studies, including one commissioned by the Trump administration, have reached the same conclusion, the report stated.