An Arizona man has been sentenced for offering financial incentives to canvassers during voter registration drives for the 2024 general election in Berks and two other counties.
Guillermo Sainz, who managed voter registration efforts for an Arizona-based company, pleaded guilty Monday in Lancaster County Court to three misdemeanor counts of solicitation of registration, state Attorney General Dave Sunday announced. Officials did not identify the company.
Sainz, 29, of Phoenix will immediately serve 30 days in Lancaster County Prison, followed by 11 months of probation, Sunday said. Sainz also is ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
Sainz was charged in 2024 with three counts of solicitation of registration, a crime under the Pennsylvania Elections Code regarding offering financial incentives for achieving registration quotas.
State 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.
The investigation also resulted in charges against six canvassers.
When the charges were announced, Berks officials acknowledged that they received these bulk voter registrations in the run-up to the November 2024 general election.
When the matter was discovered, they said, it was brought up during an elections board meeting and ultimately referred to the district attorney’s office for further investigation.
Officials said the discovery of the voter registrations was a validation of the established elections process.
Election officials did not reveal how many applications were received, but said about 1,300 applications were flagged for having incorrect or incomplete information.
Applications that were not legally compliant were not approved while some of the applications were deemed legitimate and were processed, officials said.
According to the attorney general’s office:
Investigators determined the crimes were not motivated by efforts to sway any election or voter rolls for any specific party or candidate. Rather, those charged were motivated to maintain employment and income by reaching quotas.
The voter registration forms collected by Sainz’s operation included all party affiliations, officials said when announcing the charges.
“Our investigation found that these crimes involved financial motives, not political ones, as submitted forms were from all parties,” Sunday said in a statement. “Motives aside, these are serious crimes that threaten public confidence in the election process.”
The investigation involved reviews of thousands of documents, interviews with individuals across the state and country, and collaboration with impacted county officials.
Cases are pending against these canvassers: Amos Clay, 34, Lancaster; Richard Perez, 34, Whitehall, Lehigh County; Joseph Jameson, 44, Lancaster; Anya McCurdy, 25, Salunga, Lancaster County; Meghan McDevitt, 35, Lancaster; and Samantha Szukiewicz, 37, York.
Each is charged with unsworn falsification, tampering with public records, forgery and two crimes under the Pennsylvania Elections Code and Voter Registration law. Szukiewicz is also charged with identity theft.