Seven people have been charged — including a canvasser from the Lehigh Valley — regarding numerous voter registration forms that contained falsified information and were submitted in Berks, Lancaster and York counties before the 2024 general election.
Six street canvassers paid to collect registrations last year and Guillermo Sainz, who served as director of a company’s registration drive efforts in Pennsylvania, were charged, according to a release from state Attorney General Dave Sunday. The announcement did not identify the company.
Officials said the investigation involved the review of several thousand voter registration forms that were delivered on or close to the voter registration deadline in Berks, Lancaster and York counties.
Berks officials were not immediately available for comment.
According to the release:
Some forms were flagged by the counties’ elections officials as potentially problematic, while others were verified as legitimate applications.
County elections 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 person.
The investigation involved meticulous reviews of thousands of documents, interviews with numerous people across the state and country, and collaboration with impacted county officials, according to state prosecutors.
The attorney general’s office determined the crimes were not motivated by efforts to sway any election or voter rolls for any specific party or candidate. Officials said the defendants, instead, 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,” 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.”
Officials said the investigation is ongoing.
Charges were filed Friday morning with District Judge John Bender in Lancaster.
Sainz, 33, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., was charged by summons with three counts of solicitation of registration, a crime under the state elections code regarding offering financial incentives for achieving registration quotas.
The canvassers charged are Amos Clay, 33, of Lancaster and Richard Perez, 32, of Whitehall, Lehigh County.
Other canvassers charged are Joseph Jameson, Anya McCurdy, Meghan McDevitt and Samantha Szukiewicz. Further information for them was not immediately available.
Each is charged with unsworn falsification, tampering with public records, forgery, and two crimes under the state elections code and voter registration law. Szukiewicz is also charged with identity theft.