EXCLUSIVE: Republicans’ Signatures Forged On Election Documents Submitted By Candidate

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This LevittownNow.com story has been supported in part by funding from In The Know Club members. 

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Numerous signatures on a now-former Republican congressional candidate’s petitions to get on the ballot for the spring primary were forged, according to several of the people whose names appeared.

Delaware County resident Dasha Pruett, who was running for the First Congressional District that covers Bucks County and part of Montgomery County, submitted more than 100 pages with signatures to the Pennsylvania Department of State by the deadline last month, as required by law. Signatures, names, addresses, and dates are required from members of the candidate’s party to qualify for a place on the ballot.

It is unlawful to forge signatures on petition documents, and law enforcement has brought charges over incidents across the state in the past.

A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story recently reported forged signatures can be investigated by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and a local district attorney’s office.

Bucks County authorities said this week that they had not received any referrals to investigate the signatures.

Pruett quietly dropped out of the congressional race as questions began swirling about signatures on her petitions.

Over the past two weeks, LevittownNow.com called more than a dozen people in Hatfield Township, Montgomery County, whose names appeared on the ballots and knocked on more than two dozen addresses in Lower Makefield and Falls townships that appeared on petitions submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections.

Of those who answered LevittownNow.com‘s inquiries, all but one person said their signature submitted on petitions was not written by them and most of the Republicans said they were unsure of who Pruett was. There were retirees, young mothers, an attorney, and a police department employee among the people whose signatures were forged.

“That’s not my signature and that’s not my wife’s signature. I actually signed a petition for another [candidate,]” said one Republican from Lower Makefield Township.

“That’s surely not my writing. That’s election fraud,” said a Falls Township Republican whose forged signature appeared.

Robin Holmes, a Lower Makefield Township resident who is registered as a Republican, said she was dismayed to find her forged signature and that of her husband on Pruett’s petitions.

“I have signed many petitions in the past because I believe in the process, but I was stunned to see it wasn’t my signature. That’s the most amazing thing,” she said.

This news organization was unable to determine who placed the forged signatures on the petitions.

Attempts to get in touch with the people who were listed on campaign documents as circulating the petitions were not successful or they didn’t wish to comment.

However, one circulator did respond to a request for comment. The Bensalem Township Republican said he only went to get signatures in his neighborhood and he had heard rumors of forged signatures but none of the ones he obtained were improperly placed.

A Bucks County Republican filed a legal challenge to Pruett’s petitions, but it was quickly ceased due to her withdraw from the race.

Pruett, a resident of the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby Township, said the forged signatures were “troubling,” but she was not behind the scheme.

“It’s troubling. It really is,” she said.

“There were a lot of people who were getting signatures,” Pruett said. “We trusted the people. Probably shame on me. We should have done better vetting.”

Pruett said she had not been contacted by anyone who was upset about their signature being forged and she had not been contacted by election officials or law enforcement about the issue.

The former candidate, who had ran and lost to the incumbent Fifth Congressional District Democratic congressperson in 2020, said there are problems with petitions at times and sometimes competitors can try to sabotage opponents.

LevittownNow.com spoke with several Democrats and Republicans who have collected signatures for petitions in congressional races over the years. They acknowledged there have been questions at times about forged signatures or some are disqualified once submitted, but they noted the number of suspicious-looking signatures on Pruett’s petitions seemed high.

Pruett has raised concern that fraud impacted the 2020 election and called for “election integrity” in social media posts over the past two years.

When pressed about the forged signatures, she said the state system should be made easier for candidates to collect signatures and there should be an easier way for candidates to confirm whether petition signatures are legitimate.

“I should have been more careful, but you trust people and you hope people do things in your best interest. Would I do things differently? Yes. We should have vetted people and not left petition pages at different businesses,” she said.

Pruett also said her decision to withdraw from the race was not related to concerns over signatures, but was due to her realization that she would have trouble beating incumbent Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick in the primary due to the fact she lives outside of the First Congressional District. Additionally, she suspected she would face public resistance because of her Russian heritage amid the invasion of Ukraine.

“Bucks County people are proud, so I knew I was going to be an automatic no. Those were the main reasons,” she said of ending her campaign.

For Holmes, whose signature was forged, she remains disappointed and curious if further action will be taken to find out how the petitions came to contain fake signatures.

“It leaves me disappointed in my party because it’s all members of my party who have access to my information,” Holmes said.

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