Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips is under criminal investigation by state police in Indiana for potential election fraud involving fake ballot petition signatures.
Indiana State Police and several other organizations are investigating potential election fraud in St. Joseph County involving Presidential candidate Dean Phillips.
St. Joseph County Clerk Amy Rolfes held a press conference Friday morning laying out the details. According to Rolfes, the St. Joseph County Clerk’s office allegedly found a number of fake signatures on petition forms for Phillips’ candidacy in the May primary. These signatures did not match records in the Statewide Voter Registration System, Rolfes said.
“So, we had 530 voters who had signed petitions, 530,” Rolfes said. “And of those 530, according to our due diligence, or protocols, or following the process, we found 19 that were valid.”
The Phillips campaign said that they hired a small business to collect the signatures and that they were exploring legal action. The Phillips campaign had an FEC complaint filed against them last week that alleges that the campaign was illegally coordinating with a super PAC.
Phillips has had a rough go of it as a Democratic presidential candidate. He got blown out by President Biden in New Hampshire, even though Biden wasn’t on the ballot and never campaigned in the state,
In South Carolina, where Phillips wasn’t campaigning, he finished third in the state’s official Democratic primary behind self-help author and perpetual Democratic presidential primary candidate Marianne Williamson.
Democratic voters have sent the message that they aren’t interested in primary challenge to Joe Biden.
If Dean Phillips stays in the race, he may end up with more investigations into his campaign than delegates.