HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the filing of criminal charges against several people for submitting falsified voter registration forms in multiple counties.
Authorities say numerous voter registration forms that contained fraudulent information were submitted prior to the 2024 General Election.
The investigation involved the review of thousands of voter registration forms that were delivered on or close to Pennsylvania’s voter registration deadline in Berks, Lancaster, and York counties.
Six street canvassers who were 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, have been charged.
Investigators determined the crimes were not motivated by efforts to sway any election or voter rolls for any specific party or candidate. Rather, the defendants were allegedly motivated to maintain their employment and income by reaching quotas. Voter registration forms collected by Sainz’s operation included all party affiliations, authorities say.
Some forms were flagged by the respective counties’ elections officials as potentially problematic, while others were verified as legitimate applications. Authorities say a significant portion of forms were not approved because the information could not be verified as being associated with any real persons.
“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 citizen’s right to a free, fair, and transparent election process.”
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 and 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.
The investigation remains active and ongoing.