{"id":178214,"date":"2026-04-28T13:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/178214\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T13:21:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:21:58","slug":"suspicious-pennsylvania-voter-registration-forms-linked-to-arizona-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/178214\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspicious Pennsylvania voter registration forms linked to Arizona company"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/newsletters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Votebeat\u2019s free newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Two Pennsylvania counties have identified an Arizona-based company as the source of thousands of last-minute voter registration applications that they are investigating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">The company, Field+Media Corps, which conducts voter registration and outreach programs, is run by Francisco Heredia, a Mesa councilman and a longtime voting activist in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">In Monroe County, around 30 forms the company was \u201cresponsible for submitting,\u201d which also included mail ballot applications, were \u201cirregular\u201d and included what the District Attorney\u2019s Office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MonroeCountyDistrictAttorney\/posts\/pfbid02gJEEbhyRAcLPqyC5mEonuZDVNZEvQ2idw6y7sJ6d3GMs9NgL95ghgM4mtrbYDc2dl?rdid=8ZwYdE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">described in a Facebook post<\/a> as several that were \u201cfraudulent as they were not authorized by the persons named as applicants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">\u201cIn at least one example, the named applicant is in fact deceased,\u201d District Attorney Mike Mancuso wrote in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MonroeCountyDistrictAttorney\/posts\/pfbid02gJEEbhyRAcLPqyC5mEonuZDVNZEvQ2idw6y7sJ6d3GMs9NgL95ghgM4mtrbYDc2dl?rdid=8ZwYdE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">post<\/a>, saying several of the forms he described as fraudulent had been traced to a specific person.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">York County Chief Clerk Greg Monskie confirmed to Votebeat Wednesday that Field+Media Corps submitted the forms that the county is investigating. Monskie said the company submitted the forms on behalf of the Everybody Votes campaign, a national nonprofit voter registration organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Everybody Votes said in a statement that the company has not been contacted by officials in Lancaster, York, or Monroe counties about ongoing investigations, but would help resolve any issues with the forms if contacted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">\u201dOur partners work diligently to ensure all forms collected comply with all rules and regulations,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">In a press release Wednesday, the county said that of the 3,087 applications under review, it had found that roughly 47% were legitimate, 29% had incomplete information, and 24% were \u201cundergoing further review\u201d by the York County district attorney.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Heredia told Votebeat that the company has not heard from any county officials in Pennsylvania, or received any information about problems with the forms it submitted there, but he said that the company would fully cooperate with any investigation in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>Company\u2019s voter registration efforts were flagged in Arizona<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Heredia has been a councilman in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb of about a half million people, since 2017. He was reelected in July. Before joining the council, he was for years a leader of Mi Familia Vota, a prominent Latino voter advocacy group, according to his LinkedIn profile. For a short period in 2017, he was the community relations manager for the Maricopa County Recorder\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Field+Media Corps operates voter registration drives for clients in Arizona, too. Last year, both Navajo and Mohave counties flagged voter registration forms from the company and sent them to the Arizona Attorney General\u2019s Office for investigation, office spokesperson Richie Taylor confirmed to Votebeat Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Taylor said that Maricopa County prosecutors took the lead on investigating, because the forms were initially submitted there before being sent on to Navajo and Mohave. The Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office confirmed the office opened a related investigation, but was unable to immediately provide more detail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Asked about the Pennsylvania and Arizona investigations, Heredia said the company trains workers to fill out forms accurately. When asked about the characterization of some submitted forms as fraudulent, Heredia said Field+Media Corps has a zero tolerance policy for workers who submit fraudulent forms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">He said the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office contacted his company last year in connection with an investigation into two canvassers the company employed. Field+Media Corps fired those two workers, Heredia said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Clients or past clients of Field+Media Corps in Arizona include several prominent Arizona voter advocacy groups, including LUCHA, Chispa AZ, and CPLC Action Fund, according to the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fieldandmedia.com\/our-services\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">This election cycle, the Maricopa County Recorder\u2019s Office has flagged FieldCorps, the parent company of Field+Media Corps, for submitting a high percentage of incomplete or inaccurate forms, office spokesperson Sierra Ciaramella confirmed Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Heredia said that he is in regular contact with the Maricopa County Recorder\u2019s Office, and has been for years, since he began doing this work in Arizona. He said that he is open to ways that the company can turn in more accurate forms and that his company has a good working relationship with the county.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/arizona\/2024\/07\/29\/voter-registration-form-errors-maricopa-apache\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arizona has long dealt with problems with incomplete, inaccurate, and potentially fraudulent voter registration forms<\/a>. A Votebeat analysis earlier this year found that the problem leaves potentially eligible voters off the voter rolls just before the state\u2019s voter registration deadlines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">When county officials receive an incomplete or inaccurate form, county workers reach out to voters to complete the forms. If they cannot do so, the registration is not processed.<\/p>\n<p>False claims arise as Pennsylvania continues investigating<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Heredia noted that his company reviews forms collected by workers in Pennsylvania before submitting them to check for things like similar signatures across multiple forms. But even if they spot problems, under state law, they must turn them in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Heredia confirmed his company did voter registration work on behalf of Everybody Votes. He said his company worked in Pennsylvania for more than five months leading up to the registration deadline, submitting forms just about every other week. Election officials did not tell the company of any problems with their forms during that time period, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">His company no longer has workers in the state now that the voter registration deadline has passed, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Pennsylvania is a hotly contested swing state, widely viewed as key to the presidential race, and its elections are under heavy national scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Former President Donald Trump this week alluded to the counties\u2019 announcements in social media posts, falsely claiming fake ballots had been found in Pennsylvania. Election experts pushed back, noting that the applications were flagged by election officials as potentially problematic, a sign the system is working, and that no ballots were involved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">In a third Pennsylvania county conducting an investigation, Lancaster County, officials have declined to identify the group or person who submitted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/pennsylvania\/2024\/10\/25\/pennsylvanias-lancaster-county-detects-signs-of-fraud-in-late-arriving-voter-registrations\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the 2,500 forms they<\/a> are investigating. District Attorney Heather Adams, a Republican, announced at a press conference last week that roughly 60% of the applications her detectives have reviewed so far were allegedly fraudulent, while others were legitimate. She has since described \u201chundreds\u201d of the applications as fraudulent, but has not given an exact number or announced any criminal charges related to the investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Adams declined to comment about whether Field+Media Corps had submitted the applications.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Monroe County\u2019s Mancuso wrote on Facebook that his office is working with investigators from the Pennsylvania Attorney General\u2019s Office and others as they continue to investigate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">The Pennsylvania Department of State emphasized in a statement Wednesday night that York and Lancaster counties had identified the potential irregularities only in voter registration applications, which they did not process \u2014 not in ballot applications or returned ballots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">\u201cThe counties\u2019 process to flag and investigate these potentially fraudulent voter registration applications show the safeguards built into our election system are working,\u201d Department of State spokesperson Geoff Morrow said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/2024\/10\/31\/voter-registration-forms-suspected-fraud-field-media-corps-francisco-heredia\/mailto:cwalker@votebeat.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cwalker@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-1px4eze-0 egVxCn body-paragraph\">Jen Fifield is a reporter for Votebeat based in Arizona. Contact Jen at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/2024\/10\/31\/voter-registration-forms-suspected-fraud-field-media-corps-francisco-heredia\/mailto:jfifield@votebeat.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">jfifield@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16247,902,13205,15181,28,30,29,79622,4815,1824],"class_list":["post-178214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-16247","tag-elections","tag-form","tag-paper","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-registering","tag-voter-registration","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}