Attorney General Michelle Henry announced charges Wednesday against an Allegheny County man for his role in forging signatures to get his client on the ballot for the 2022 Democratic primary race in PA's 12th Congressional District.
Kirk Rice was hired by a congressional candidate to help acquire signatures, of the 437 Rice obtained many appeared to be forged or falsified.
An investigation found that Rice allegedly forged names, addresses and signatures of dozens of individuals on the nomination petitions.
Rice was charged with 33 counts of identity theft, 33 counts of forgery, one count of theft by deception, two counts of perjury and more.
“At the foundation of our democracy are free and fair elections, and this defendant is charged with undermining that essential process,” Attorney General Henry said. “Instead of working to obtain legal signatures, the defendant allegedly took the easy way out and falsified much of the information that secured a ballot spot for the candidate he represented.
This case is a reminder that interfering with Pennsylvania’s election process is a very serious matter and will always be treated that way by this office.”
That campaign was unsuccessful.
The 1th district is the City of Pittsburgh, a large part of Allegheny County and some areas of Westmoreland County.
That race was eventually won by Summer Lee, who is the current representative.