Indiana official: Altered voter registrations raise concerns

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of voter registrations were altered, raising concerns about possible fraud, says Indiana's chief elections official, whose office warned voters to check whether their information is correct online and encouraged voting early to avoid problems on Election Day.

Secretary of State Connie Lawson said in a statement Tuesday that Indiana's online voter registration database had not been hacked but records were changed on paper forms, online and at Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices.

The Department of Homeland Security has warned states of attempts to hack election systems and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly said at rallies that the election could be rigged, without providing any evidence.

The information collected on the altered registrations has been turned over to Indiana State Police, who already were conducting a separate investigation of possible voter registration fraud in 56 counties, said Valerie Warycha, a spokeswoman for Lawson.

Julia Vaughn, policy director for the nonpartisan government watchdog group, Common Cause Indiana, said that before Lawson makes allegations of possible fraud her office "should make sure the voter file records haven't been altered through software snafus or human errors made by people in county or state agencies."