Two Wernersville women have been charged with submitting false voter registration and absentee ballot applications in Monroe County in 2024.
Ashley N. Arias, 31, and Jessica Clark, 43, both of the 100 block of Main Street, are charged along with Gary T. Hall, 45, Philadelphia, according to a posting by the Monroe County district attorney’s office.
According to the posting:
The defendants are accused of forging signatures, fabricating information and falsely completing registration documents.
The investigation involved numerous interviews, handwriting review, database checks and the defendants’ own statements.
The investigation revealed applications submitted under the names of people who denied participating, people residing out of state, and even one deceased person.
The fraudulent applications were tied to Fieldcorps, a canvassing organization that was operating in Pennsylvania during the 2024 election cycle.
The state attorney general has filed a criminal complaint against a managerial level employee of that group. Further information about that case was unavailable.
The district attorney’s office said the investigation began last year after suspicious applications were flagged by the Monroe County Voter Registration Office and referred to the DA.
A Monroe County detective worked with the attorney general’s office, sharing information and documentation.
The DA’s office pursued its cases locally, while the attorney general took responsibility for related investigations in Lancaster and Berks counties, at the request of officials there.
Attorney General Dave Sunday announced last week that seven people were charged with submitting voter registration forms that contained falsified information in Berks, Lancaster and York counties before the 2024 general election.
Six street canvassers paid to collect registrations and the director of a company’s registration drive efforts in Pennsylvania were charged. The announcement did not identify the company.
Berks officials acknowledged that bulk voter registrations were received in the run-up to the November 2024 general election. When the issue was discovered, the board of elections discussed it in a public hearing and ultimately referred it to the Berks district attorney’s office for further investigation.
In making the announcement in the Berks case, Sunday said investigators 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.
In the Monroe County case, the DA’s office said his office and the attorney general’s office agreed to delay filing the Monroe charges until the state investigation was further along to ensure the collection of evidence would not be hampered.
The DA said charges against a fourth defendant are expected to be filed soon.