Montco man charged with voting in three counties in rare voter fraud case

A Montgomery County man has been charged with election fraud, double voting and falsely registering to vote, federal prosecutors announced Friday. The case represents a rare example of documented voter fraud.

In a news release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleged that Philip C. Pulley, a 62-year-old from Huntingdon Valley, successfully registered to vote in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania, as well as in Broward County, Fla.

Pulley allegedly registered in Philadelphia using a false address and false social security number. In 2020, prosecutors said he voted in both Florida and Montgomery County and requested a mail-in ballot in Philadelphia. In 2022, Pulley is accused of voting in both Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, alongside a fine of up to $250,000. Court records did not list an attorney for Pulley on Friday.

Philadelphia County Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, said his office began investigating the allegations against Pulley in June 2023, and referred the case to the FBI.

He said the case should give voters confidence in the election process, and in the officials working to prevent fraud.

“This is not an indication of something that is widespread,” Bluestein said of the case. “It is an indication, though, of when there are irregularities and fraud of them being investigated and caught.”

Though it is important to investigate and prevent any and all cases of double voting, Bluestein said such instances are not widespread enough to impact election outcomes on a large scale.

An Associated Press review of six battleground states in the 2020 election found that disputed ballots represented just 0.15% of President Joe Biden’s margin of victory in those states.