Cops raid Indiana Voter Registration Project claiming fake voter registrations

Just days away from voter registration deadlines, police raided the Indiana Voter Registration Project in Indianapolis as part of their investigations into allegations of fake voter application information.

The investigation began in Hendricks and Marion counties, according to Fox 59 news. It has now grown to also include Allen, Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Johnson, Lake and Madison counties, police say. County voter registration offices suspected something was wrong when they began receiving fraudulent applications filled out with a voter's information.

A warrant was granted to search the business and police went in to collect documents. They say, however, the investigation could continue for weeks or months. Given the expansion of counties that are part of the investigation, fraudulent records could be in the hundreds. County officials noticed it from forms that had combinations of made up names and made up addresses along with real names with incorrect addresses and incorrect dates of birth.

The current laws in Indiana require all registration applications to be processed according to their policies. These incidents are typical of what was seen in the 2008 election when organizations paid canvassers by the number of registrant they were able to get instead of a daily wage. It can incentivize people to make up registrants to fill out more forms. Fake registration forms in previous elections where this occurred were filled out using names from Mickey Mouse to celebrities like Brad Pitt. In the end, however, no actual voter fraud took place because Mickey Mouse didn't show up to vote.

When Raw Story reached out to the Indiana Voter Registration Project, Patriot Majority USA President Craig Varoga said Tuesday, “After all is said and done, when this partisan investigation finds no wrongdoing by the organization, Connie Lawson and the Indiana State Police will have prevented 45,000 African Americans from voting in this year’s elections. That is why today we reported their outrageous actions to the Department of Justice.”

According to an Indiana Voter Registration Project release, the state of Indiana has processes in place to catch problems like these and clearly, the system here worked. Any time IVR saw problems or irregularities they said that they reached out to the proper authorities.

Those who legally registered to vote with a canvasser and are fearful their registration was changed, can contact the Secretary of State's office at 1-866-IN-1-Vote or (1-866-461-8683).

Voter registration deadline is Oct 11 and folks can register online at OurTime.org/Vote.