A 31-year-old Idaho Falls woman is facing 10 felony identity-theft charges after Dauphin County, Pennsylvania officials say she forged mail-in ballot applications for 10 voters, most of them seniors, before any ballots could be sent out. Kelly Heather Richardson is also charged with one misdemeanor count of breaking election rules and 10 misdemeanor forgery counts tied to the scheme.
The case began on September 25, 2026, when a worker for Mobilize the Message submitted the 10 applications to the Dauphin County elections office, according to witf.org. County staff flagged the requests almost immediately after spotting suspicious similarities among the signatures, as pennlive.com reported. Elections officials rejected all 10 applications, and no actual mail ballots were ever distributed as a result.
When investigators reached out to the 10 people whose names appeared on the paperwork, those voters said neither the signatures nor the Social Security numbers listed were accurate, the station's report states. Eight of the 10 individuals named were over age 60, according to the same account.
Richardson Allegedly Admitted Forging the Signatures
Richardson spoke with an informant by phone on October 7, 2026, and allegedly admitted to forging signatures on all 10 mail-in requests, according to the informant's account in the charging documents. A day later, on October 8, 2026, she repeated that admission during a call with a detective, telling investigators the defendant admitted to forging the signatures of the ten mail in ballet requests, per the witf.org report.
Police said the Mobilize the Message worker who submitted the forms told investigators Richardson had handed him the 10 forged requests to turn in to the elections office earlier that summer. The worker did not know the requests were forged, according to the charging documents. An attorney for Mobilize the Message described Richardson as a part-time contractor for the organization, the same report notes.
No Political Motive Found, Officials Say
Investigators found no indication in the criminal filings or in public officials' statements that the alleged falsification was politically motivated, according to the report. Dauphin County issued an arrest warrant for Richardson on October 30, 2026, and District Attorney Fran Chardo said she had been notified of the charges and was expected to surrender in central Pennsylvania in the coming days, per pennlive.com. Richardson is awaiting a preliminary hearing, according to court documents cited by KFOX.
What Pennsylvania Law Says About the Charges
Under Pennsylvania law, identity theft involves possessing or using another person's identifying information, including a name or Social Security number, without that person's consent to further an unlawful purpose, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The statute treats each instance of unlawful possession or use as a separate offense, which helps explain the 10 separate felony counts against Richardson. Pennsylvania also defines forgery as altering or fabricating a writing with intent to defraud or injure, and classifies forgery involving a government-issued instrument as a second-degree felony, according to the same state statute.
