Investigations into voter registration fraud point to an Arizona group with ties to left-wing organizations

Evidence from cases of voter registration fraud has stunned Pennsylvania in the past week, leading as far as Arizona to a private, for-profit industry trying to register voters in every county and raising legal concerns.

As Pennsylvania counties investigate fraudulent voter applications in recent weeks, a group from Arizona was of particular interest because it operates in Lancaster County, home to a large Amish population that both political parties courted leading up to the presidential election.

Five Pennsylvania counties are investigating possible fraudulent voter applications and vote-by-mail applications in the days and weeks leading up to Election Day.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday, “Apparent attempts to mail fraudulent voter registration forms in Berks, Lancaster, Monroe and York counties have been foiled. The Attorney General’s Office is working with the respective county officials to investigate those responsible for this behavior.”

In addition, Cambria County found fraudulent voter registration applications. On Tuesday, the Monroe County District Attorney announces Mike Mancuso that about 30 irregular voter applications and vote-by-mail application forms are being investigated by his office, many of which were “found to be fraudulent.” One applicant was deceased and multiple forms were from the same person.

Sensitizing voters for profit

“A company called ‘Field and Media Corps’ a subsidiary of Fieldcorps, an Arizona-based organization that operates in Lancaster County, was in turn responsible for sending the forms in question to county officials.” Mancuso said.

The CEO of Field+Media Corps it is Francisco Herediaa city councilor and vice mayor of Mesa, Arizona, in Maricopa County. Heredia previously served as director of community relations in the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office and worked at the left-wing voting rights group Mi Familia Votă.

Heredia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

FieldCorps, the parent company of Field+Media Corps, received $200,000 from Mi Familia Vota in June. FieldCorps has worked with Democratic candidates and other left-wing groups.

York County is too investigating a large delivery received voter registration forms and mail-in ballot applications.

York County Chief Clerk Greg Monskie said Votebeat on Wednesday that Field+Media Corps filed the forms that are under investigation. Monskie explained that Field+Media Corps received the forms from the nonprofit nationwide voter registration campaign, Everybody Votes.

Everybody Votes told Votebeat that it has not been contacted by Lancaster, Monroe or York counties about the ongoing investigations, but that it would help resolve any issues with the forms if contacted. “Our partners work diligently to ensure that all forms collected comply with all rules and regulations.” Everyone votes he said in a statement.

York County said that of the 3,087 voter registration applications it reviews, approximately 47% of them have been verified and approved; about 29% had incomplete information, which requires additional information from applicants before approval; and approximately 24% were denied and are receiving further reviews, of which 85% were duplicate applications.

Heredia told Votebeat that Field+Media Corps was not contacted by Pennsylvania county officials or told about problems with the forms the company sent them. He said Field+Media Corps will cooperate with any investigation in Pennsylvania.

Field+Media Corps also conducted voter registration drives in Arizona. Richie Taylor, spokesman for the Arizona Attorney General’s office, said Votebeat that the office received voter registration forms from Field+Media Corps that were flagged for investigation by Mohave and Navajo counties last year. The Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office led the investigation.

Company “marked” by investigators

Heredia said the Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office contacted Field+Media Corps last year about an investigation into two canvassers employed by the company. The two canvassers were fired.

Heredia explained that Field+Media Corps trains employees to fill out forms accurately and said the company has a zero-tolerance policy for workers who submit fraudulent forms.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Recorder said Wednesday that FieldCorps was flagged for a high percentage of inaccurate or incomplete forms that were submitted.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee issued a statement on Friday regarding Field+Media Corps.

“Authorities in Pennsylvania are investigating an alleged fraudulent voter registration scheme and have named a far-left consulting group, Field+Media Corps, as the organization submitting the fraudulent registration forms. These announced investigations raise serious questions: Who is funding these efforts? Is the group active in Is there any connection to leftist dark money groups that deserve an immediate and robust investigation to determine if laws have been broken, those responsible must be prosecuted to the fullest extent? the statement continued.

“The RNC Election Integrity team is closely monitoring these investigations. The most important election in our country’s history is four days away. These investigations must be done immediately so that Pennsylvanians — and Americans across the country — can have confidence in the process and confidence in the results. voters deserve transparency and accountability in our elections.”

60% of recent registrations are fraudulent

Meanwhile, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, prosecutors said last Friday uncovered a large-scale scheme to submit fraudulent voter applications that were collected at malls and other locations. Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams he said in a press conference that detectives found that about 60 percent of the roughly 2,500 voter registrations filed in recent days with the county elections office were fraudulent.

Adams added that he knew of at least two other counties that may have similar concerns about recent voter registration requests sent out in large batches.

In response to a request for comment, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s office shared the joint statement from the county attorney and the Board of Elections and said: “As the district attorney noted during the press conference, she will not share any details regarding the actors at this time as it is still an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Cambria County, Pa., too rejected 21 voter registration applications early last month after the prosecutor’s office investigated and found them to be fraudulent. The requests were made by a group after a voter registration event, but the name of the group was not disclosed.

Voter confidence is needed

Third-party registration organizations have been a particular concern regarding election integrity.

The Fair Elections Project (HEP) released a report in January on 14 electoral reforms that states should make to protect the integrity of elections. One of the recommended reforms is “Protecting the Integrity of the Voter Registration Process.”

“Voters should trust that voter registration groups will properly manage their registrations and personal information.” the report is shown. “States should establish standards for the prompt handling and return of voter registration applications, require groups engaged in voter registration activities (VRDs) to complete formal training and register with the state.”

“Procedures should be put in place to sanction VRD organizations that repeatedly or intentionally produce inaccurate or incomplete voter registrations or otherwise violate election laws. Compensation for voter registration activities based on a quota or per registration should be prohibited,” the report continues.

HEP Vice President Chad Ennis said Just the news on Friday that third-party voter registration organizations are a “problem for many reasons,” from impersonation fraud to mistakes in voter registration applications. Voter registration applications are “sent to the wrong place or not sent at all, depending on how the collectors paid,” Ennis said. “Sometimes I just get a name and a signature” on the applications and “don’t get to the voter registration office.”

Some states allow workers to be paid for each voter registration application, “so they have an incentive to put out as many as possible,” Ennis said, which is “not a great thing when trying to keep voter rolls clean.”