Nuns in Erie are fighting disinformation after a GOP operative accused them of voter fraud

The nuns who are members of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie have long known what it means to fight for their beliefs. 

They marched for civil rights in the 1960s, have advocated for policies addressing climate change, and have been active in Black Lives Matter protests and calls for racial justice. 

Those stances haven’t always been popular, and the nuns have faced criticism for them.

“Our sisters were marching at the time of Vietnam, and they were supporting civil rights, and they were making stands that were not popular publicly, to the point that at times when we had a high school, parents would pull their kids out, at times people stopped making donations,” said Sister Linda Romey, the communications and development coordinator for the Benedictine Sisters of Erie monastic community.

Which is to say: The nuns of Erie don’t shy away from making their beliefs known, and they’re willing to stand up for what they think is right. But they never expected they’d have to wage their most recent battle against false allegations of voter fraud. 

On Oct. 22, Cliff Maloney, a Republican operative who runs a group called the Pennsylvania Chase that works to increase the number of GOP voters using mail-in ballots in the state, published a social media post that falsely claimed that no one lived at the monastery.

“BREAKING: a member of the PA CHASE discovered an address in Erie, PA today where 53 voters are registered,” Maloney wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Turns out it’s the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and NO ONE lives there.”

That post, which said, “We will not let the Dems count on illegal votes,” went on to garner millions of views and thousands of retweets, and left the nuns more than a little shocked.

“There are so many untruths, in my opinion, and this is one that can be factually disproved. … There’s just no way that there is voter fraud happening here because we have lived here since 1970,” Romey said.

Currently, 55 nuns live at the monastery, which has no political affiliation, Romey said.

“A few of those who live here now were in that group that moved in in 1970, and since then, others have come,” Romey said. “But this building has been continuously lived in, and other than the guest rooms we have for people who come to visit, it’s been full. It just makes no sense to claim that no one lives here.”

Immediately following Maloney’s post, the Benedictine Sisters responded. They issued a statement that explained that the sisters reside at the monastery and urged the public to scrutinize the information they see shared on social media.

“We want to call Cliff Maloney to account for his blatantly false post that accuses our sisters of fraud,” Sister Stephanie Schmidt, the monastery’s prioress, said in the press release. “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.”

Maloney did not respond to a request for comment from the Pennsylvania Independent. After a reporter from the Washington Post visited the monastery to document that the nuns do indeed reside there, Maloney told the publication that he was “working to confirm” that the sisters live there.

The sisters noted, “We are also pursuing legal counsel regarding this public defamation.”

Maloney’s accusations of voter fraud come as Republicans continue to push disinformation about both the 2020 and the 2024 elections. The relentless barrage of disinformation from former President Donald Trump and other Republican officials after the 2020 election, including from election deniers in Pennsylvania, resulted in an onslaught of threats against election officials in the commonwealth and across the country.

Now Trump, the Republican nominee for president, is spreading disinformation about the Nov. 5 election that political analysts say further erodes the public’s confidence in the country’s democratic institutions and could result in violence. They say that Trump’s disinformation is meant to cast doubt on the results of the election if he loses.

Maloney’s claims also come as Pennsylvania is poised to play a critical role in the presidential election: It has 19 electoral votes, more than any other swing state. Additionally, Erie County is one of the most-watched counties in a state where, according to polls, either Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, and Trump are tied or Harris has a slight edge.

The Erie sisters are hoping this election will end peacefully, and, following Nov. 5, they plan to continue to address disinformation. In a world that rushes to judge and is quick to believe anything on social media, Romey said, the sisters want to encourage people to engage in what she calls “slow thinking.” 

For Romey and her fellow sisters, that means not only questioning information published on social media but being intentional about having tough and ongoing conversations — about democracy, about faith, about identity. It means listening to those with whom you may disagree and still being able to build community with them. Maloney, for example, is welcome to come and have lunch with the sisters, Romey said.

“Wherever we are, we’re working to create community,” Romey said. “And to create community, you have to have honest give-and-take. You have to have conversation. You have to know how to ask a good question and know how to listen to the other and know how to respond and how to keep digging to get to the core of what makes us human.”