Military mail-in ballots cast for Trump discarded in Pennsylvania, federal investigation finds

By Thomas Catenacci

Nine military mail-in ballots cast for President Donald Trump were discarded at a local Pennsylvania board of elections office, a federal investigation concluded.

The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police began an investigation Monday at the request of Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, U.S. Attorney David Freed said in a statement. Salavantis requested federal assistance following reports of issues with a small number of ballots at the Luzerne County Board of Elections.

RELATED: Wisconsin authorities investigate trays of mail, absentee ballots found discarded in ditch

“Investigators have recovered nine ballots at this time,” Freed said in a statement Thursday. “All nine ballots were cast for presidential candidate Donald Trump.”

The inquiry is ongoing, Freed added.

“It is the vital duty of government to ensure that every properly cast vote is counted,” he said.

The investigation into the mail-in mishap comes as the November election, which will see a significant uptick in mail voting, approaches. A record 76% of Americans will be able to vote by mail in the general election, The New York Times reported. 

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy faced scrutiny in August for the United States Postal Service’s implementation of new internal policies. However, the postal service later reversed the policy changes, which included the removal of letter sorting machines, DeJoy announced.

“To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded,” DeJoy said in a statement.

Trump has opposed universal mail-in voting and has said that the election will be more susceptible to fraud. He floated the idea of delaying the election, but later backtracked.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Image courtesy of Public domain

4 thoughts on “Military mail-in ballots cast for Trump discarded in Pennsylvania, federal investigation finds

  1. It is important to note the facts of the case and not to project our own or others assumptions. According to Luzerne County Pa. officials ” a temporary seasonal independent contractor incorrectly discarded ballots into the office trash within the first three days of work helping the elections office”. These ballots which had not been opened when discarded, were later found to include others besides those for Trump. The error was found by Luzerne County Elections Director Shelby Watchilla who after an investigation fired the person responsible. To date no one has been charged with any crime and it appears to have simply been a mistake by an incompetent worker, not the result of any political malfeasance.

  2. Face it… liberals will do whatever they need to do to win; whether it’s legal, ethical or otherwise. Never again will I vote for a Democrat, Progressive again… no matter what their stance is.

  3. UNREAL ! These clowns on the left seem to think that Integrity is concentrated in the USPS and all election officials. Letting your ballot go into the mail breaks the chain of custody. The receiving official has no idea where is has been in its travels. My wife is fearful of the polls, so I plan to hand deliver our completed ballots to the poll officials. The chain remains intact.
    I would have to say that anyone who believes their ballot is safe in the mail is slightly delusional.

Comments are closed.