The Justice Division of the Utah Attorney’s General’s Office filed 11 lawsuits related to alleged forgery and forgery-related charges concerning candidate petitions on Monday.
From January to March 2024, the suits allege, the defendants worked for signature-collecting companies that sent employees door-to-door to gather voter signatures for a candidate in the 2024 primary election. According to the filings sent to the Deseret News, several of the defendants operated as independent contractors for Gathering Inc. The incidents occurred in Utah County, Salt Lake County, Washington County, Tooele County and Iron County.
McKelle Jordan, a special agent for the Utah Attorney General’s Office’s Special Investigations/Public Corruption Unit, investigated and signed all filings. Attorney General Derek Brown and Assistant Attorney General Heather Waite Grover then reviewed them.
In some cases, defendants allegedly admitted to having spouses or other family members sign multiple voter signatures. One defendant, in particular, stated that this was done to “kill two birds with one stone,” according to the filings. In that specific case, “Of the 176 signatures in the packets Defendant turned in, only 71 were valid. 36 signatures, approximately twenty percent, did not match the signatures on file with the election officials,” the suit alleges.
When Jordan reviewed voters whose signatures appeared on the petitions circulated by the defendants, many did not match the signatures on file with the election officials, and some contacted by Jordan said they had never been approached.
“The Attorney General’s office should be applauded for its actions today, and those employed by this company or any other that engaged in this behavior should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Matt Lusty, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s campaign spokesperson, told the Deseret News late Monday.
“During the 2024 election, the Cox for Governor campaign engaged a signature gathering company to help support its volunteer signature efforts. The company chosen by the campaign was the same one previously hired by several members of Utah’s congressional delegation, numerous legislative candidates, and the governor’s Republican opponent in the 2020 gubernatorial election,” he added. “The total number of signatures submitted by the Cox campaign far exceeded the state requirement of 28,000. In the verification process, some signatures were disqualified by the Davis County Clerk for various reasons including signature verification.”
One filing alleged that the signature-collecting company’s field manager “reviewed a training memo with Defendant, which included cautions against committing fraud, enticing voters with false information, or accepting signatures from someone not qualified to sign.” That defendant is accused of five counts of forgery.
All 11 defendants were accused of various charges, including:
- Forgery — Utah law defines forgery as a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison per count and a fine of up to $5,000.
- Communication fraud — Utah law classifies this as a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 354 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
- Breach of certificate of nomination procedures — Utah law makes this a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 354 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
“For 9 years Gather has worked with state and county entities in the signature gathering process. The state’s process is robust and thorough. Every political cycle we have hundreds and sometimes thousands of independent contractors who help us gather signatures for many different campaigns across the state,” Tanner Leatham, Owner of Gathering Inc. told the Deseret News in a statement. “We provide tools and training to help these individuals inform voters and successfully gather signatures. When individuals choose to break the rules we do everything we can to help the state go after these people.”
“Gather has been working with the attorney general’s investigation since the incident was found and has done everything possible to help in this process,” he added. “We are grateful to work with such great people across the state of Utah.”