Meet the Pennsylvania nuns falsely accused of voter fraud

Erie, Pennsylvania
CNN
—

For a Republican canvasser going door-to-door to cast votes in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the address on East Lake Road in Erie must have seemed like heavenly evidence of the widespread voter fraud that many in his party complain since Donald Trump's election defeat against Joe Biden in 2020.

There were 53 registered voters at the address, which housed a Catholic church, but not a single one actually lived there, Cliff Maloney, a conservative activist and founder of The Pennsylvania Chase, claimed on X in a post that quickly went viral.

But there were voters at that address — dozens, in fact. Fifty-five hard-to-miss nuns from the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.

A so-called ballot hunter who goes door-to-door urging voters to return their mail-in ballots had somehow missed the crowded parking lot and busy reception area where nuns strolled between their simple living quarters and the impressive stained glass windows in the chapel .

“We are used to being accused of things like being too active. And we have always been very vocal about peace and justice,” Sister Annette Marshall said in an interview with CNN on Thursday. “But I’ve never heard of us being accused of fraud. …Or non-existent.”

The monastery has been in Erie since the 1850s and moved to its current building in 1969, funded in part by sisters who formed a real musical group “Sister Act” to raise funds. Most residents have lived there for decades and are deeply involved in the community.

“We have been in Erie since 1856 and do good work. “These sisters do not deserve to be demeaned by the misinformation that we are a deception, that we are an impostor,” said Prioress Sister Stephanie Schmidt.

Maloney leads a group that encourages Republicans to vote by mail and is part of a larger, often coordinated network of conservatives who raise doubts about the security of elections, point to widespread fraud in mail-in ballots, spread unverified stories about machines that Changing votes and urging voters to be vigilant and document suspected wrongdoing.

But the evidence for their concerns remains as sparse as it was in the 2020 election, and local officials are actively trying to combat the flood of false and misleading claims — like Maloney's — that are spreading like wildfire on social media.

In a social media post Thursday evening, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said he spoke with Sister Schmidt to thank her for pushing back against election disinformation.

Maloney did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

In two weeks, all eyes will be on Erie County, one of only two true swing counties in the country's most important swing state. Barack Obama won the county in 2008 and 2012, but Trump won Erie in 2016, followed by a win for Biden in Pennsylvania's northernmost county in 2020.

The city has seen non-stop campaigning by both parties this election cycle.

“It's intense,” said Sister Schmidt, 72. But even though she encourages her congregation to vote, the Benedictine Sisters are a nonpartisan organization. They do not support a party or a candidate. “Each sister votes according to her conscience,” she said.

Some, like Sister Diane Rabe, have already mailed in their ballot. Others plan to vote on Election Day despite their busy schedules.

Because the Benedictine nuns don't stand still.

Many of them were teachers or social workers when they were young and have taken full-time jobs at the monastery since their retirement. Sister Marshall, now in her 80s, heads the church's climate protection department and looks after hundreds of oblates, people who belong to the monastic community. Another sister, also over 80 years old, took over management of the hospitality business after 35 years at the food bank.

The nuns are mostly in good health – Sister Theresa Zoky, the flock's personal historian and archivist, fell at Chicago's O'Hare Airport a few weeks ago and is rolling around in a wheelchair while her leg heals – but all are alive and well are entitled to vote.

According to a text message Maloney sent to But none of the sisters who worked the front desk remember ever seeing or speaking to a political activist, according to the parish's communications director, Sister Linda Romey.

“No sister will tell him that,” Sister Diane Cook said. “If he went to the front desk and asked who lived here, they would probably give him a list of all the sisters who lived here.”

“We are not a group that just allows them to attack us like that,” Sister Cook said.

“People can vote for whoever they want to vote for, but don’t lie,” she added.

High numbers of absentee and absentee ballot envelopes in key swing states like North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada have already sparked a wave of Republican lawsuits challenging everything from how envelopes were properly sealed to whether they were postmarked are correct in that it lays the foundation for possible electoral challenges.

Conservatives like Maloney recognize the Democrats' lead over postal votes and see an opportunity. If Trump could get 33% of mail-in votes, Maloney told longtime Republican activist Roger Stone in a podcast earlier this month, “he can't lose because the Republican turnout models are off the charts.”

Maloney launched his campaign in early 2024 with the goal of knocking on half a million doors in Pennsylvania and increasing Republican mail-in voting rates.

In recent weeks, Republican grassroots efforts in swing states like Pennsylvania have been boosted by Elon Musk, who has put his finger – and his wallet – on the line for Trump.

America PAC, largely funded by the Tesla founder, and Turning Point Action joined forces in Wisconsin earlier this month and deployed hundreds of paid “ballot hunters.”

When Maloney claimed that the nuns in Erie were involved in voter fraud, America PAC retweeted the post, reinforcing the false statement.

While most Benedictines don't keep up with social media, they understand its power – especially during an election – and publicly called on Maloney to “account for his obviously false post.”

Maloney acknowledged the controversy surrounding X.

“If the 53 people registered at this address are lawful voters … then I encourage them to exercise their right to vote,” Maloney wrote.

But that's not enough for the sisters.

“All they would have to do is say, ‘We’re sorry. “What we said wasn’t true.” And we could say, “Okay.” And that would be the end of it. But they never will,” Sister Cook said.

Nevertheless, Maloney is always a welcome visitor.

“I would like to get him here and show him the house and show him what the community does, what we are a part of,” Sister Cook said, “because obviously he doesn’t know.”