On Thursday, American Oversight added the firm Wake TSI as a defendant in its lawsuit against Fulton County, Pa., for records related to the county’s review of voting machines in the weeks after the 2020 election.

In response to conspiracy theorists claiming that the election had been marred by fraud, and at the instigation of state Sen. Doug Mastriano, Fulton County election officials agreed to have Wake Technology Services, Inc. conduct a review of voting machines, mail-in ballots, and absentee ballots in Fulton County in December 2020 and February 2021. American Oversight filed a lawsuit against Fulton County in January 2022, seeking multiple categories of records that were missing from the documents previously released by the county in response to our public records requests.

In December, American Oversight sent a letter requesting that Wake TSI “preserve and keep safe” any and all records related to the review, including emails and text messages exchanged with the county commissioners and elections director. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA), which is involved in similar but separate proceedings against Fulton County, also joined American Oversight in the notice.

Last year, American Oversight obtained records indicating that Mastriano — a prominent election denier and ally of former President Trump who later ran for governor — had threatened Fulton commissioners with subpoenas unless they voluntarily participated in an audit of votes. Our records also confirmed that Wake TSI’s inspection of voting machines took place without the approval of the county’s only Democratic commissioner, Paula Shives. 

Wake TSI later subcontracted with the company Cyber Ninjas to help conduct the Arizona Senate’s sham “audit” of votes cast in Maricopa County. American Oversight has obtained numerous records providing details about Wake TSI’s role in that review, such as its hiring of election deniers and conspiracy theorists.

Read more about American Oversight’s work protecting democracy in Pennsylvania here.