Kirk Rice, a canvasser in Allegheny County, was convicted Friday of forging signatures on nominating petitions for Democrat Steve Irwin's 2022 congressional primary campaign, wrapping up a weeklong trial that prosecutors say exposed hundreds of bogus autographs traded for cash.
Guilty on theft, forgery and perjury counts
Jurors found Rice guilty of charges including theft by deception, forgery, and perjury after the weeklong proceeding, according to WTAE. Investigators told the station the scheme unfolded as part of a paid canvassing effort.
Prosecutors say he was paid per signature
Prosecutors said Rice collected $1,340 while turning in 437 signatures spread across 34 petition pages that were delivered to the Irwin campaign and officially filed, according to CBS Pittsburgh. The Office of Attorney General said agents later interviewed dozens of people whose names appeared on the paperwork, and none said they had signed the petitions.
Attorney General: 'undermined the integrity'
Attorney General Dave Sunday blasted the conduct, saying, "This defendant deliberately undermined the integrity of Pennsylvania's election process by falsifying signatures for financial gain," WTAE reported. Sunday also praised investigators and prosecutors for piecing together the fraud.
How petition rules are supposed to work
Pennsylvania's instructions for nomination petition circulation require each signer to be a registered and enrolled member of the relevant party, and they direct circulators to complete sworn statements for every page they collect, according to the Department of State's guidance. The Irwin campaign had already flagged problems in 2022 after spotting petition pages with signatures that voters said were not theirs, including one that a federal judge later told reporters she had not signed. Earlier coverage of those discrepancies appears at WESA, and the state instructions are posted by the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Sentencing and what comes next
Rice is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 17, 2026, according to the CBS report, and prosecutors are expected to seek penalties that reflect the range of convictions. The case is already prompting fresh scrutiny of how campaigns choose circulators and verify signatures before sending nomination paperwork into the system.
