The Benedictine Sisters of Erie received an award for political courage after they pushed back on baseless claims of voter fraud by a conservative organization weeks before the 2024 election.
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We learned last fall that heck hath no fury like a group of Benedictine sisters falsely accused of voter fraud.
In October, Cliff Maloney, the founder of PA Chase, posted false claims on X that his conservative door-knocking organization had uncovered an address linked to the Benedictine Sisters in Erie that had 53 registered voters but no residents living there.
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie pushed back against that false claim with a press release that called on Maloney to account for his blatantly false post.
“We do live at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery and a simple web search would alert him to our active presence in a number of ministries in Erie,” said Sister Stephanie Schmidt, prioress. “We also want to alert those who subscribe to X and other social media platforms to be vigilant and seek additional information before accepting these posts as truth. A free republic depends on free and fair elections. It depends equally on a discerning and conscientious citizenry who do not unquestioningly accept the word of anyone who has a social media platform.”
Maloney never did produce evidence to back up his claim, which went viral, and on Wednesday, the sisters were honored for pushing back against his baseless accusations with an award for political courage from the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS).
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, who nominated the sisters for the award, cited their courage in challenging political disinformation.
“They were targeted with false charges of voter fraud just before the 2024 election,” said Schmidt. “The Sisters thoughtfully confronted the baseless claims and used their time in the spotlight to warn the public that a free republic depends on a discerning and conscientious citizenry.”
