Far-right activist Scott Presler has often boasted that he secured Pennsylvania for President Donald Trump in 2024 through his work going into Amish communities and signing up new voters.
But a new study from Elizabethtown College reported by WHP effectively demolishes this claim.
"The research shows that 2024 saw the highest number of registered Amish voters and eligible Amish voters since 2004 — though voter turnout ended up being lower than the 2020 election. In 2020, around 18.17% of eligible Amish voters in Lancaster County hit the polls, compared to a voter turnout of 14.68% in 2024," said the report. "The data shows that in 2024, there were around 17,490 Amish residents in Lancaster County. Around 4,454 of those residents were registered to vote, and only around 2,568 of those people actually voted."
In blunter terms, Pennsylvania voting rights attorney Jake Sternberger wrote on X in response to the study, "MAGA grifter Scott Presler claims his Amish voter registration efforts 'delivered' PA for Trump. This analysis shows that in Lancaster just '488 new Amish voters were registered in 2024 prior to the election' and Amish 'voter turnout ended up being lower than the 2020 election.'"
Presler, who has traveled all over the country training activists and doing voter registration drives to boost Republican numbers, has an extensive and controversial history.
He helped plan the "Stop the Steal" rallies that immediately preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and also worked with anti-Muslim hate groups. In 2016, he resigned as a field coordinator for the Republican Party of Virginia following reports that he engaged in gay hookups at the Virginia Beach GOP office and posted photos on Craigslist.