DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES - 2024/04/23: A "vote here" sign is seen outside of the Shiloh United Church of Christ which serves as the polling station for Danville's Fourth Ward. Pennsylvania's primary election is being held on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie were compelled to issue a press release pushing back against voter fraud claims levied by a right-wing activist. PA Chase posted a false claim on X that was quickly disproven.
The PA Chase, a conservative door knocking organization, falsely accused a Benedictine Sisters convent in Erie of fraudulent voter claims.
The incident started when Cliff Maloney, the founder of PA Chase, posted false claims on X that they found an address linked to the Benedictine Sisters in Erie that had 53 registered voters but no residents living there.
The false claim went viral after Maloney posted in front of his 60,000 followers.
“We want to call Cliff Maloney to account for his blatantly false post that accuses our sisters of fraud. We do live at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery and a simple web search would alert him to our active presence in a number of ministries in Erie. We also want to alert those who subscribe to X and other social media platforms to be vigilant and seek additional information before accepting these posts as truth,” Sister Stephanie Schmidt, prioress said in a statement.
“A free republic depends on free and fair elections. It depends equally on a discerning and conscientious citizenry who do not unquestioningly accept the word of anyone who has a social media platform.”
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie issued a press release dispelling the false claims on Wednesday after being alerted to the social media post.
PA Chase is operated by the right-wing Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, which lists Maloney as their CEO, and aims to knock on 500,000 doors and increase the Republican share of mail-in ballots from 20% to 33% in the upcoming election.
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Pennsylvanians and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at The Keystone has always been to empower people across the commonwealth with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Pennsylvania families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
Did your absentee ballot count? Today the last day to fix it as Senate race remains tight
Democrats are pushing those who live in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties and voted by mail to check the status of their mail-in ballots and...
PA Democrats hold onto the PA House after Frank Burns wins reelection in deep-red district
PA House Democrats were able to pull off the unthinkable and hold onto the PA House by a 102-101 majority following Tuesday’s election results. It...
Republican David McCormick flips pivotal Pennsylvania Senate seat, ousts Bob Casey
The Associated Press called the race Thursday, though Casey did not concede. With votes still being counted, McCormick led Casey by about 31,000...
We asked, you answered: How do you feel about the 2024 election results
Our newsletter readers shared their thoughts on the outcome of the pivotal 2024 presidential election. Because we live in a democracy, we had an...
Harris says nation must accept election results while urging supporters to keep fighting
Harris delivered her remarks at Howard University, her alma mater and one of the country's most prominent historically Black schools, in the same...
