Luzerne County voter fraud case might lead to reward

Former Luzerne County election director Shelby Watchilla says she might pursue a reward offered by the lieutenant governor of Texas for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who committed voter fraud in the 2020 election.

However, any reward money received will be donated to a local charity, Watchilla said Wednesday.

“If any reward were to come to me it would be donated to the community,” she said.

Watchilla resigned as election director earlier this month. She was at the helm of the election bureau when a staff member discovered evidence that someone requested an absentee ballot for a woman who was listed as deceased in state voter records.

That discovery led to a criminal investigation and the arrest of Robert R. Lynn, 67, of Forty Fort, on felony charges of forgery and interference with an election on Oct. 21.

Prosecutors allege that Lynn, a registered Republican, forged the signature of his mother, who died in 2015, on a ballot application in her name.

The case received nationwide media coverage, just 13 days prior to the hotly contested general election on Nov. 3.

It also led to a vigorous exchange between John Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, and Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas.

Patrick, a Republican, said in November he would pay a cash reward of at least $25,000 to anyone who reported confirmed voter fraud in the presidential election.

Fetterman, a Democrat, has repeatedly asked Patrick to pay reward money to Pennsylvania for three voter fraud cases, including Lynn’s. The money would be donated to food banks, Fetterman said.

The well-publicized Fetterman-Patrick feud reached Luzerne County this week. A reporter from Dallas, Texas, contacted county Manager David Pedri, asking about the Lynn case in connection with Patrick’s promised reward money.

Pedri said he put the reporter in touch with Watchilla.

Watchilla said Wednesday it would be fitting to donate any reward money she or others might receive to charities that help the community.

Lynn’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.