Misleading Claim of Dead Registered Voters in Pennsylvania
Quick Take
A misleading claim that more than 21,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania are dead is circulating online. The figure comes from a conservative group that failed to convince a federal judge in October that its list was accurate.
Full Story
Headlines claiming that “21,000 DEAD PEOPLE” are registered to vote in Pennsylvania have been racking up shares on social media amid an effort to spread the unfounded claim that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
High-profile conservative figures — including Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani — have promoted a story with a similarly suggestive headline.
But the claim is misleading. It’s based on a lawsuit filed by a conservative organization called the Public Interest Legal Foundation, which regularly brings voting-related lawsuits against states.
The case was filed on Oct. 15, about two weeks before Election Day. It alleged that more than 21,000 voters registered in Pennsylvania were dead and asked that the court order the state to remove them from the rolls before the election.
The federal judge hearing the case declined to do so.
Instead, Judge John Jones III cited PILF’s questionable methodology in developing its purported list of ineligible voters, its decision to file the suit at the “eleventh hour,” and the fact that Pennsylvania’s system for stripping deceased voters from the rolls appears to work.
State law requires the health department to notify local election officials when someone over 18 dies, and those officials are required to cancel any corresponding voter registration. The secretary of the commonwealth, against whom the suit was brought, maintains a database where those voter records are updated.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/misleading-claim-of-dead-registered-voters-in-pennsylvania/
Misleading Claim of Dead Registered Voters in Pennsylvania
Quick Take
A misleading claim that more than 21,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania are dead is circulating online. The figure comes from a conservative group that failed to convince a federal judge in October that its list was accurate.
Full Story
Headlines claiming that “21,000 DEAD PEOPLE” are registered to vote in Pennsylvania have been racking up shares on social media amid an effort to spread the unfounded claim that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
High-profile conservative figures — including Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani — have promoted a story with a similarly suggestive headline.
But the claim is misleading. It’s based on a lawsuit filed by a conservative organization called the Public Interest Legal Foundation, which regularly brings voting-related lawsuits against states.
The case was filed on Oct. 15, about two weeks before Election Day. It alleged that more than 21,000 voters registered in Pennsylvania were dead and asked that the court order the state to remove them from the rolls before the election.
The federal judge hearing the case declined to do so.
Instead, Judge John Jones III cited PILF’s questionable methodology in developing its purported list of ineligible voters, its decision to file the suit at the “eleventh hour,” and the fact that Pennsylvania’s system for stripping deceased voters from the rolls appears to work.
State law requires the health department to notify local election officials when someone over 18 dies, and those officials are required to cancel any corresponding voter registration. The secretary of the commonwealth, against whom the suit was brought, maintains a database where those voter records are updated.