Challenges to overseas ballots withdrawn in Lancaster County

Challenges to hundreds of overseas voters filed by a Denver woman with ties to a pro-Trump election denial group were withdrawn Thursday, just one day before a hearing was set to take place.

Lancaster County confirmed Thursday afternoon the challenges to all 723 voters were withdrawn. All voters who were subject to the challenge have been notified of the withdrawal, the county said.

Heather Dichter is one of those voters.

Dichter, a 1996 Manheim Township High School graduate, has voted in Lancaster County elections for most of her life. She moved to the United Kingdom in 2016, where she works as a sports history and sports management professor at De Montfort University in Leicester, and has continued to cast a ballot in the U.S. since then.

Dichter said she worried in the days leading up to Tuesday that her ballot may not be counted, though the county's Board of Elections assured her it would.

The county said Mizii's challenges were filed within an hour of 5 p.m. last Friday, the deadline established under state law.

"Finding out my ballot was challenged the day after the election made me incredibly mad that someone who has never met me was trying to disenfranchise me and over 700 people," Dichter said in an email. "The fact that people challenging our ballots had no problem with us voting in the primary earlier this year and only brought their challenges now demonstrates just how disingenuous these challenges are."

Seeran Mizii was behind the ballot challenges. Mizii, who did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, is confirmed to have attended PA Fair Elections meetings this year.

The group was the source of largely failed efforts to remove voters from voting rolls this year. It's led by Heather Honey, a Lebanon County resident who was found to be a frequent source of false and misleading information about elections, according to a February Votebeat report.

Dichter became a "federal voter" after receiving permanent residency in the U.K., which means she is only eligible to cast a vote for federal offices like the president. Federal voters tie their registration back to their last stateside residential address. For Dichter, that's her parents' Lancaster home.

Nicholas LoVecchio received a notification Wednesday that his ballot was challenged, claiming he was not registered to vote and not eligible to vote. LoVecchio, a linguist and language consultant in France, said he suspected "foul play" from elections denial groups and questioned why the county had not outright rejected the challenges. The law regulating overseas voters has been in place for nearly 40 years.

"The point is to sow confusion, tie up public resources, harass citizens and municipal workers, and cast doubt over the whole process," he said in an email.

LoVecchio has been a federal voter for two decades and said his ballot has never been challenged. He grew up in Lancaster County, graduating from Hempfield High School in 1998, and his parents still live in the county.

"Since nothing like this has happened to me, it hit close to home and made me feel sick to know how widespread these voter harassment tactics are. Anyone can be a target."

Wil Arndt, a creative director in Vancouver, Canada, said his ballot was also challenged. Although he hasn't lived in Lancaster since 1997, he said he wants to stay involved in U.S. politics because it impacts his family. He called the ballot challenges "entirely frivolous and borders on voter intimidation."

Still, Arndt was prepared to wake up at 5:30 a.m., pacific time, to attend Friday's hearing. He had been in touch with both the Brennan Center for Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union to defend his vote.

"I'm proud to represent the U.S. as an engaged citizen living overseas," Arndt said in an email.

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Statewide challenges

Overseas ballots were challenged in multiple Pennsylvania counties, but nearly all were withdrawn after former President Donald Trump's election victory became clear.

For example, Republican state Sens. Cris Dush and Jarrett Coleman, who supported the work of the election denial movement over the last four years, withdrew challenges they filed in counties they represent in Harrisburg.

Challenges to overseas federal voters, who are largely Democrats, were withdrawn in Bucks, Centre, Chester, Clinton, Cumberland, Dauphin and Lycoming counties. In York County, the Board of Elections rejected the ballot challenges.

Michael Fitzpatrick, a spokesperson for the Lancaster County commissioners office, said Friday's Board of Elections meeting will still take place at 9 a.m. to begin canvassing ballots before the election is certified. Details on when the overseas ballots will be included in the county's total will likely be shared during Friday's meeting, Fitzpatrick said.

LNP | LancasterOnline staff members Russ Walker and Tom Lisi contributed to this report.