HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the filing of criminal charges regarding numerous voter registration forms that contained falsified information and were submitted in multiple counties prior to the 2024 General Election.
The Office of Attorney General charged six street canvassers paid to collect registrations last year in multiple counties, as well as Guillermo Sainz, who served as director of a company’s registration drive efforts in Pennsylvania.
The Office of Attorney General investigation involved reviews of several thousands of voter registration forms that were delivered on or close to the voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania in Berks, Lancaster, and York counties.
Some forms were flagged by the respective counties’ elections officials as potentially problematic, while others were verified as legitimate applications. County election offices processed these forms through verification systems before approving or denying any application. A significant portion of forms were not approved by county offices because the information could not be verified as being associated with any real persons.
The comprehensive investigation involved meticulous reviews of many thousands of documents, interviews with numerous individuals across the state and country, and collaboration with impacted county officials.
The Office of Attorney General determined that the crimes were not motivated by efforts to sway any election or voter rolls for any specific party or candidate. Rather, the charged defendants were motivated to maintain employment and income by reaching quotas.
The voter registration forms collected by Sainz’s operation included all party affiliations.
“We are confident that the motive behind these crimes was personal financial gain, and not a conspiracy or organized effort to tip any election for any one candidate or party,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Pennsylvanians should have peace of mind that the election process worked in this case. County election offices have the most important role in ensuring the safety and integrity of our elections and voter rolls, and we received full cooperation from those offices in this investigation. My office will continue to protect every citizens’ right to a free, fair, and transparent election process.”
The investigation remains active and ongoing.
Charges were filed Friday morning with Magisterial District Judge John Bender.
Sainz is charged with three counts of solicitation of registration, a crime under the Pa Elections Code regarding offering financial incentives for achieving registration quotas.
The charged canvassers are: Amos Clay, Joseph Jameson, Anya McCurdy, Meghan McDevitt, Richard Perez, Samantha Szukiewicz.
Each is charged with unsworn falsification, tampering with public records, forgery, and two crimes under the Pa Elections Code and Voter Registration law.
Szukiewicz is also charged with identity theft.
The Office of Attorney General offered assistance to Monroe County officials regarding similar conduct in that county.
Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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