A right-wing Pennsylvania canvasser, Cliff Maloney, made baseless allegations Tuesday against the Benedictine Sisters of Erie to raise questions about voting integrity in the upcoming election.
Maloney tweeted that, although there are 53 registered voters listed under the monastery’s address, no one actually resided there. Included in Maloney’s tweet was a screen-recording showing the names, ages, and political orientations of residents registered to vote under the monastery’s address. “Our attorney’s are reviewing this right now,” he added. “We will not let the Dems count on illegal votes.”
But Maloney’s claim is false. A spokeswoman for The Benedictine Sisters of Erie told The Dispatch Fact Check that the monastery is home to 55 sisters. Nor is this anything new—sisters have resided at the monastery since 1970. Moreover, the names of monastery’s registered voters that Maloney posted online match the names of sisters listed on the Benedictine Sisters of Erie’s website. Linda Romey, coordinator of communications and development for the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, said it was “disturbing” to see Maloney publicly post the names and personal information of monastery sisters. “We consider that a violation of our privacy,” she told The Dispatch Fact Check.
Maloney said that a canvasser for the Pennsylvania Chase—a Republican get-out-the-vote operation he launched—first notified him about the monastery in a text message. “I had a hard time [locating the address] because all I kept seeing was a church but no house,” the canvasser, identified only as “Jeremy,” wrote in the text to Maloney. “When I opened the book to see the voters information 53 registered voters appeared.” He then alleged that a “lady working” in the building told him that no voters reside in the monastery. She allegedly added that, while some visitors reside at the monastery while passing through, they do not stay longer than two nights.
This account puzzled Romey. “There is no sister at our monastery who would say no one lives there,” she told The Dispatch Fact Check. “Even if [Maloney]’s canvasser had run into a guest, our guests know people live there.”
Although Maloney claimed his canvasser had “knocked on the door” to the monastery, Romey questioned how a canvasser would have done so. “People don’t ‘knock’ on our door,” she said. “It is a significant front entrance, double glass doors, and you walk into a switchboard that is attended from morning til night.”
“I do not want to accuse anyone of fabricating a story,” Romey added, “but I really don’t know where the information came from.”
On Wednesday, Maloney reiterated his canvasser’s story in a social media post, adding, “we’ve got our team continuing to analyze the situation.” Maloney also addressed the Benedictine Sisters of Erie’s response that its residents are legal voters, saying he “appreciated” the monastery’s public reply. “Once we have proof, we will be content,” he added. “Until then, know this… we will expose and report and situation that needs explanation.” Maloney ended the tweet by saying, “This is political warfare and we won’t give an inch until we have FAIR and SECURE elections.”
The Dispatch Fact Check reached out to Cliff Maloney for comment.
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