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Elections director warns community of possible scammers

Residents of the county should be aware that there have been reports of people going door-to-door identifying themselves as representatives of the Lycoming County Office of Voter Services, Director Forrest Lehman told the commissioners at their recent meeting.

“Obviously we are going into a busy mid-term election year. There is going to be political solicitation door-to-door. It’s entirely normal. It’s not illegal. It’s appropriate for people to do that,” Lehman said.

“They should be identifying who they’re from. So they should be saying we’re from this political party or we’re representing a candidate,” he added.

Where it becomes problematic, Lehman explained, is when someone identifies themselves as coming from his office.

“We do not do door-to-door solicitation of any kind,” he stressed. “If someone says they’re from Voter Services, that should be an immediate red flag that, hey, there’s a problem here because they’re not being truthful right out of the gate,” he said. “Residents should be vigilant about anybody coming to their door and I think most of them are. That’s why we got a phone call.”

If the person misrepresents themselves, Lehman cautioned that they could be seeking personal identifying information such as dates of birth, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers or trying to identify financial information.

“People just need to be aware of that — that this could be happening and in a very busy election year like I’m anticipating. That’s exactly the environment that kind of activity could be conducted in because they want to blend into the background. They want to make it seem like that’s how we do it,” he said.

“People just need to be aware of that and be vigilant,” he added.

To report suspicious activity, contact Voter Services by phone at 570-327-2267 or by email at voterservices@lyco.org.

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