State raids Delco offices, seeking evidence of voter registration fraud

Pennsylvania state police have raided a Delaware County political field office seeking evidence of possible voter-registration fraud, according to court records.

In a warrant filed late last week in County Court, investigators said they were seeking documents, financial information, and lists of employees at the Norwood office of FieldWorks LLC, a national organization that often does street work for Democrats, records show.

The warrant did not specify the nature of the probe, but said agents also were looking for "templates . . . utilized to construct fraudulent voter registration forms" and "completed voter registration forms containing same or similar identifying information of individuals on multiple forms."

A Delaware County judge on Friday afternoon signed the search warrant, but it was not known when it was executed. The warrant application was approved by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. Jeff Johnson, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, declined to comment.

In a statement Monday, a spokesman for FieldWorks' national headquarters in Washington, said the company has "zero tolerance for fraud."

"FieldWorks is now working with county officials to provide them with information on our program and applications they are investigating," said the spokesman, Matt Dorf. "In keeping with our regular practice, we will work aggressively with authorities to seek the prosecution of anyone involved in wrongdoing."

FieldWorks describes itself as "a nationally recognized grassroots organizing firm founded to help progressive organizations, advocacy groups, and members of the Democratic family take their public engagement and electoral strategies to the next level." It was founded in 2001, according to its promotional information online.

The company did not respond to requests for comment on which campaigns or political groups have hired them to work in Pennsylvania.

In 2012, FieldWorks' voter registration efforts in Ohio sparked some controversy. FieldWorks employees filed thousands of new voter registration cards in the final week before the registration deadline. Some of them were found to be fraudulent.

In that same election, FieldWorks included a cover letter with its mass voter filing warning that it itself viewed scores of the submitted names as fraudulent.

Police in Cincinnati arrested a former Ohio University student in 2012 working in FieldWorks on charges of forging 22 signatures on a petition drive. Police said at the time that FieldWorks itself played no role in that man's scheme to pad his list.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com610-313-8116@LMcCrystal

Staff writer Craig R. McCoy contributed to this article.