Hundreds wait in line to vote at Northeastern Middle School, Tuesday, November 3, 2020 John A. Pavoncello photo

With a self-appointed “election integrity committee” knocking on doors across York County, local officials are struggling under mounting external pressure to — or not to — audit the 2020 election.

The identity of the door-knockers remain a mystery, but their tactics mirror a variety of groups, locally and nationwide, that organized to challenge last year’s presidential election results. County officials referred the activity to the police, but, facing a call from Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano to access York County’s voting machines, they’ve parsed their words carefully.

“We’re optimistic (Mastriano) will address the concerns that we brought forth so we can more properly consider his request,” said York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler, a Republican who was elected in 2019.

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Wheeler stressed that the county has no affiliation with the door-knockers, who’ve been asking residents about their voting habits. Mastriano, a Franklin County Republican who’s been associated with several of these groups but not conclusively linked to the door-knocking, did not respond to requests for comment.

York and other counties are already familiar with organizations portraying themselves as grassroots election watchdogs. Those include Audit the Vote PA and FreePA, groups with active members in York County that purport to uphold personal freedoms and fight for election integrity.

Neither organization responded to requests for comment.

Their websites were registered privately, meaning no personal information is attached to the domains. Both groups actively recruit volunteers — a process also shrouded in secrecy.

More:‘Election integrity committee’ in York County accused of voter intimidation

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 13, 2021 file photo, Reverend Kenneth Pierce, 1st VP of the Detroit Branch NAACP, and pastor at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, speaks Tuesday, April 13, 2021, during a rally to support voting rights & end voter suppression at the Capitol in Lansing, Mich. In Georgia, faith leaders are asking corporate executives to condemn laws restricting voting access — or face a boycott. In Arizona and Texas, clergy have assembled outside the state capitols to decry what they view as voter-suppression measures targeting Black and Hispanic people. Similar initiatives have been undertaken in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and elsewhere. (Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal via AP, File)

On July 19, for example, FreePA held a meeting at Wisehaven Hall in Windsor Township. The event required attendees to show identification and sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to the organization’s website.

The document, however, was drafted by Audit the Vote PA.

“You are making the promises and agreements set forth below to induce ATVPA to accept your offer of engagement as a volunteer and to permit You, in that capacity, to perform certain services for and to hold certain roles with ATVPA,” the document reads.

Details about the groups are sparse, but their activities coincided with Mastriano’s call to audit election processes in three counties — Philadelphia, Tioga and York.

Read the ATVPA nondisclosure form here.

Both groups repeatedly hosted Mastriano at events. At 5 p.m. Saturday, FreePA will again host the senator at a “special meeting” at Wisehaven Hall, according to the organization’s website.

It’s not clear whether either organization has applied for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. Neither is it clear who’s backing the groups financially. Audit the Vote PA solicits donations from the public on its website.

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Wheeler told The York Dispatch that the issue was referred to the Southern York Regional Police Department. Chief James Boddington did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In an email obtained by the Dispatch, Wheeler told Chad Baker, chair of the Democratic Party of York County, and Jeff Piccola, chair of the York County Republican Committee, to direct concerns to the police.

“It just leads to greater skepticism about the political process,” said G. Terry Madonna, senior fellow in residence for political affairs at Millersville University. “The question is, ‘What good is this for democracy?'”

Madonna said it’s difficult to opine about the group because their origin and intentions aren’t clear. But it is inappropriate to visit voters’ homes and not be as transparent as possible, he said.

Various Democratic officials accused the door-knockers of voter intimidation. As of late last week, it wasn’t clear who the door-knockers were targeting. Most of the reports seemed to center around southern York County.

At York's Lincoln Fire Company on Roosevelt Avenue, a group of Marylanders helped voters with questions as Election Protection. They've never done this before but Maryland isn't as much of a 'battleground state', they said, and wanted to do something positive for the election. None of them were aligned with political parties, they said. Bil Bowden photo

“There is an intimidation factor, and that’s what their intent is,” said Baker.

Nick Anspach, assistant professor of political science at York College, said that theme seems to mirror what has become increasingly common following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Those efforts could particularly impact people of color in York County, Anspach said.

“Right now, minorities overwhelmingly identify as Democrats,” he said. “And it just happens to be that these marginalized groups have been victims of voter intimidation. It just seems more of the same as far as that goes.”

Meanwhile, officials in all three counties targeted by Mastriano’s audit request were inundated with calls and emails, lobbying them alternately to perform the audit or to ignore Mastriano altogether.

Wheeler said that between a July 21 public meeting and emails and phone calls, approximately 700 people had reached out regarding the proposed audit.

While that meeting saw an overwhelming amount of speakers in favor of the senator’s proposal — including people wearing FreePA T-shirts — Wheeler said the number of people who supported turning down the audit had been roughly equal.

“For me, it’s been received through voicemails and emails,” she said.

Earlier this month, York County commissioners questioned the legality of Mastriano’s demand, the cost to the county and the lack of staff necessary to fulfill the request.

Hanover residents Edie Springfloat, Sheila O'Neill and Christie Rutledge pose with signs outside of the York County Administrative Center. The three attended the Board of Commissioners meeting in support of a forensic election audit of the 2020 election.

As they wait to hear back from the senator, Wheeler reiterated that a final decision had not been made yet.

Vice President Commissioner Doug Hoke said his position was that unless there was specific evidence brought forth that the 2020 election had been tampered with, there was no need for a forensic audit.

“I’m proud of the way we handled our election,” said Hoke, the sole Democrat on the board of commissioners .

For his part, Hoke said he’d received several hundred emails on the subject. Initially, those emails were pro-audit; however, they’ve recently changed to be against the audit.

Commissioner Ron Smith said his opinion had not been changed since last week. He continued to say that he wanted to hear back from Mastriano and get more information before making a final decision on the election audit.

In the past few days, Smith said he had received 60 to 70 emails thanking the commissioners for not moving forward with the election audit, though a final decision has not yet been made.

— Matthew Enright can be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter at @Matthew_Enright. Logan Hullinger can be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter at @LoganHullYD.