Indiana State Police expand vote fraud investigation to 56 counties
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana State Police are investigating possible voter registration fraud in 56 of the state's 92 counties in a probe that began in August. The investigation is focusing on the efforts of a Washington, D.C.-based voter mobilization group, Patriot Majority USA, which denies any wrongdoing and says it is being unfairly targeted for political reasons. The probe expanded Thursday to nearly two-thirds of the state's counties only days before Tuesday's deadline to register to vote in the state.
Among the local counties included in the investigation are Marshall, Elkhart and LaPorte.
State Police spokesman Capt. Dave Bursten says the agency began its investigation in late August when it was contacted by voter registration officials in Hendricks County, just west of Indianapolis. They reported that some voter registration applications submitted by the Indiana Voter Registration Project may have been forged, or were otherwise suspicious, he says. Investigators then found "a number of applications" where the signatures were apparently written in the same person's handwriting, raising concerns about forgery. Bursten says other concerns that could suggest fraud were subsequently found on applications the group submitted in Marion County, home of Indianapolis.
The investigation has expanded to 56 Indiana counties because, Bursten says, the State Police have concerns the same problematic applications "might be happening" in those counties. Bursten says State Police are looking into whether the Indiana Voter Registration Project may have submitted applications on behalf of people already registered to vote, without those individuals' knowledge. The probe is also looking at whether the applications contain "possible fraudulent or false information and a combination of made-up names, made-up addresses, real names with made-up or incorrect addresses, false dates of births with real names" — and combinations of those examples, he says.
Read more: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/elections/indiana-state-police-expand-vote-fraud-investigation-to-counties/article_dbf2984a-8cac-11e6-8a51-83f73a592b3a.html
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