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The Latest: Many records flagged for fraud could be legit

Original Publication Date October 19, 2016 - 11:00 AM

INDIANAPOLIS - The Latest on voter registration investigations in Indiana (all times local):

6:30 p.m.

Indiana's secretary of state says there may be nothing wrong with many of the voter registration records she flagged as potentially fraudulent.

Republican Connie Lawson says her office was contacted by concerned citizens who were having a problem accessing their online records. A subsequent found a heavier than usual number of changes to voter registration forms this election cycle.

Her office notified Indiana state police, who are investigating.

Lawson says some changes made to voters birthdays and first names were suspicious. But she said that many of the changes could be legitimate.

The fraud probe comes as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested he fears the November election might be "rigged."

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4:55 p.m.

The leader of the Washington, D.C.-based voter mobilization group says it is facing unsubstantiated assertions that is might be to blame for alteration of Indiana voter registrations.

Patriot Majority USA president Craig Varoga said Wednesday the group believes there are flaws in the voter database maintained by the Indiana secretary of state's office.

Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson reported Tuesday that thousands of registrations in the state had been altered and asked state police to investigate. The state police superintendent says the changing of birth dates and first names of thousands of paper form registration applications might be evidence of forgery by Patriot Majority workers, who conducted registration drives around the state.

Varoga says those involved "needs to calm down" and ensure everyone entitled to vote is allowed to do so.

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1:40 p.m.

The Indiana State Police superintendent is pointing to a Washington, D.C.-based voter mobilization group as possibly to blame for the alteration of voter registrations.

Superintendent Doug Carter said in a statement Wednesday that detectives are investigating the changing of birth dates and first names of thousands of paper form registration applications.

Carter says reports from the Indiana secretary of state's office this week might be evidence of forgery by representatives of Patriot Majority USA. That group has conducted statewide voter registration drives and has been under state police investigation since August over possible registration forgeries in more than half of Indiana's counties.

The group didn't have immediate comment Wednesday but has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Carter didn't specify any illegal actions but said he expected several people could face criminal charges.

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12:10 p.m.

A leading Indiana legislator who also serves as a county elections administrator says her office has only seen one questionable change in voter registration this election season.

Republican Rep. Kathy Richardson of Noblesville says it's common for people to update their voter registrations before an election to reflect changes to names or addresses. Her office oversees elections in Hamilton County, which encompasses much of the Indianapolis northern suburbs.

Richardson spoke to The Associated Press a day after Indiana's chief elections official reported thousands of registrations in the state had been altered, raising the possibility of fraud.

Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson says Indiana's online voter registration database wasn't hacked but records were changed on paper forms, online and at Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices.

News from © The Associated Press, 2016
The Associated Press

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