The Lackawanna County Bureau of Elections referred a complaint about potential ballot tampering at a Scranton polling place to the county district attorney’s office, officials said in a news release.
It notes the bureau was “made aware of a situation … involving potential ballot tampering” during Tuesday’s municipal election and referred the matter to the DA’s office for further investigation after conducting a preliminary review.
“Because of the nature of the allegation and the ongoing investigation by the District Attorney, the Elections Bureau cannot make any further comment,” the release says. “All further inquiries should be directed to the District Attorney’s office.”
While the release doesn’t provide details about the incident, a Facebook user claimed in a post Tuesday that they went to vote at the Jackson Heights polling place in West Scranton and were handed a ballot with a name already written in the write-in space for judge of election. The post included a photo of the ballot the Facebook user claimed they received.
District Attorney Brian Gallagher confirmed in a text message that an investigation into that incident was referred to him by county elections Director Beth Hopkins.
“My office has opened a criminal investigation,” Gallagher wrote. “I won’t have further comment until the investigation concludes.”