By Alexandra Berzon
In succession, they provided sworn testimony: a military partner relocating every three years. A traveler returning after six months on the road. A graduate student temporarily off-campus for studies.
Each of them was a qualified voter who had submitted a mail-in ballot in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, prior to Election Day. Yet, alongside over 200 others, their votes faced challenges from a lone activist questioning their residency status.
Approximately 4,000 of these ballot disputes were submitted to 14 election offices statewide by Friday, the cutoff date. This wave of challenges marks a rise in a tactic increasingly utilized since the 2020 election. While thousands of voter registrations have faced scrutiny in the meantime, the Pennsylvania incidents threaten to invalidate votes that have already been cast — an action that election officials report is rarely seen at such an extensive level.
Numerous challenges were initiated by activists rallying around Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of fraudulent elections. Election officials caution that these disputes not only jeopardize voter rights but also foster unnecessary doubt about electoral integrity.
“These challenges are grounded in theories that courts have consistently overturned,” the Pennsylvania Department of State remarked in a statement, asserting that the challenges were made in “bad faith,” seemed orchestrated, and intended to “erode confidence in the Nov. 5 election.”
An influential activist in Pennsylvania countered the state officials’ portrayal of the initiative. Heather Honey, the activist, declared the challenges “could not be in better faith.”
Disputing a voter’s qualification has emerged as a central strategy of the right-wing election denial movement that surfaced following Trump’s attempts to maintain power after losing in 2020. In Georgia, activists lodged tens of thousands of challenges to voter registrations before the election, compelling election officials to examine their assertions. Similar disputes have arisen in Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio.
Election officials throughout the nation have predominantly dismissed these challenges. Most often, the voters referred to had already been identified by election officials as having moved or incorrectly classified as ineligible.
In Chester County, the activist responsible for the ballot challenges, Diane Houser, retracted some claims after voters appeared to contest them. The county elections board rejected the remainder.
Other counties in the state are set to conduct similar hearings this week, following Election Day, raising the possibility they could be leveraged to contest results. Trump and his supporters have indicated there will likely be a significant battle over election outcomes if he does not win.
“Undoubtedly, the aim is to lay the foundation for contesting election results that one finds unsatisfactory,” stated Hannah Fried, executive director of the voter advocacy organization All Voting Is Local. “There’s no substance to it.”
Some challenges were initiated by members of the national Election Integrity Network, a sizeable coalition of activists organized by Cleta Mitchell, a former lawyer for Trump, as revealed by a review of recordings from the group’s meetings. The network has prompted activists to scrutinize voter rolls and compile lists of registrations they consider dubious.
Additional challenges were put forward by two Republican state senators, Jarrett Coleman and Cris Dush. The senators’ assertions mainly targeted overseas voters. Honey and her fellow activists have focused on the state’s process for accepting those ballots, claiming it lacks validity. The Republican National Committee has filed two lawsuits regarding this issue, both of which courts have dismissed.
In an interview, Dush, who supported Trump’s fraud allegations in Pennsylvania during 2020, indicated he viewed the challenges as part of a broader initiative to eliminate fraud in this election.
“My goal is to ensure that only qualified voters are casting ballots and that no one is improperly accessing someone else’s ballot,” he stated.
York County dismissed 354 challenges concerning overseas voters in a hearing held Monday afternoon.
Activists have indicated their intention to persist with the effort. In North Carolina, residents are allowed to contest absentee ballots for up to five days post-election. Activists have claimed they have already pinpointed ballots to challenge.
In Chester County, Ana Harley, whose husband has served in the Navy for 15 years, expressed dismay upon learning that her ballot application had been challenged, requesting proof of her residency.
“I’m here today because I feel compelled to voice my concerns regarding these unfounded accusations against myself and others,” she told the Chester County Board of Commissioners on Friday.
Harley also voiced her dissatisfaction with a letter she received from a campaign organized by Pennsylvania Fair Elections, a group led by Honey and connected to the national network. The letter, part of numerous communications sent to individuals on the U.S. Postal Service’s change-of-address list, urged those who had moved to contact the election department to cancel their registrations.
Josh Maxwell, the commission chair, condemned the letters as potentially disenfranchising voters and criticized the challenges posed by Houser.
“Should individuals have to make time on a Friday afternoon to Zoom into Chester County to ensure their votes are counted?” he asked.
Honey acknowledged Pennsylvania Fair Elections’ role in promoting the letter campaign but claimed it did not connect with the Chester County challenges. Houser testified that she utilized data from the group to assist in compiling the challenges.
The hearing highlighted the problems and dangers when external activists attempt to determine voter eligibility.
John Cheshire stated that he has resided in the state since the early 1970s but decided to rent his home for six months starting in January while traveling across the country, with his mail being forwarded to a friend’s residence in Texas. He had just returned.
Todd Thatcher and his spouse, Cindy, spent a few years in California but had recently come back to be closer to a new grandchild and re-registered locally.
Nicholas Mignogna was attending college in North Carolina and is currently traveling abroad. His father, Mike, testified via Zoom on his behalf.
“We live in Tredyffrin Township — from the moment he was born, my wife has reminded me,” the senior Mignogna stated.
