One day after Indiana State Police were called in to investigate possible voter tampering and fraud, ISP Superintendent Doug Carter reiterated that allegations of voter suppression are false. He also says reports turned in to ISP by the Indiana secretary of state could serve as evidence of forgery.

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - One day after Indiana State Police were called in to investigate possible voter tampering and fraud, ISP Superintendent Doug Carter reiterated that allegations of voter suppression are false. He also says reports turned in to ISP by the Indiana secretary of state could serve as evidence of forgery.

In a statement released Wednesday, Carter thanked Secretary of State Connie Lawson for contacting ISP to report that "thousands of paper form voter registration applications were changed, including dates of birth and first names. Given our ongoing investigation, Secretary Lawson believed this could be further evidence of voter fraud and immediately contacted Indiana State Police detectives who were working on the case."

Carter went on to say: "Let me be clear: Among the highest priorities of the Indiana State Police is ensuring the integrity of this election and that every Hoosier vote counts. Because of these new revelations, the magnitude of the possible fraud involved and with the election less than three weeks away, I have directed all available resources within the Indiana State Police to assist with this investigation. Given the fact that the Statewide Voter Registration System has not been compromised, we believe the reports Secretary Lawson turned over yesterday may serve as evidence of forgery by representatives associated with the Indiana Voter Registration Project, which is a subsidiary organization of a group that calls itself Patriot Majority USA."

Patriot Majority USA, parent organization of the Indiana Voter Registration Project, was raided earlier this month as part of a State Police investigation into voter registration fraud. Almost immediately after that raid, Patriot Majority issued a statement claiming political bias behind the investigation, pointing specifically to Trooper William Stoney Vann, a member of the Johnson County investigation unit who has already announced plans to run for Johnson County Sheriff. Because he does not need to formally file until next year, he was allowed to work on this investigation.



On Wednesday, Superintendent Carter sharply criticized Patriot Majority, saying the group "launched a partisan advertising campaign accusing Governor Pence of leading a 'government attack against' Hoosiers and the Indiana State Police of 'police intimidation.' This is completely false and I condemn these attacks on the Governor and Indiana State Police in the strongest possible terms. Furthermore, Patriot Majority’s claim that our investigation began at the direction of Governor Pence is false. Governor Pence has never asked me or anyone in the Indiana State Police to initiate any investigation. Any suggestion to the contrary is offensive to me personally and the more than 1,000 troopers who serve with integrity and distinction every single day. The leadership of Patriot Majority should be ashamed of itself for suggesting otherwise. This investigation began with a concerned citizen alerting county election officials to dozens of voter application forms with grave discrepancies that indicated the possibility of fraud and forgery. Election officials called the Indiana State Police and a detective responded and determined further investigation was warranted."



Carter says the investigation involves 56 of Indiana's 92 counties, with more than two-dozen Indiana State Police detectives reviewing thousands of voter application forms.