Sam DeMarco III

Role

Sam DeMarco III — Allegheny County Council at-large member; Allegheny County Republican Party chair.

The Pennsylvania elector certificate

Sam DeMarco III was one of 20 Pennsylvania Republicans who met in Harrisburg on December 14, 2020 and signed a Republican "Certificate of Vote" for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. UNLIKE the certificates signed in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin, Pennsylvania's certificate contained explicit conditional language, certifying the vote "on the understanding that if, as a result of a final non-appealable Court Order or other proceeding prescribed by law, we are ultimately recognized as being the duly elected and qualified Electors" -- a hedged framing that never asserted present legitimacy, unlike the unconditional slates in the other five states.

Legal proceedings

No Pennsylvania criminal charges were filed against Sam DeMarco III or any of the other 19 signers. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office stated that the certificate's conditional clause -- limiting its effect to a scenario in which a court overturned Pennsylvania's results, which did not happen -- meant the conduct did not meet the legal standard for forgery under state law, even though the office characterized the broader effort as intentionally misleading. Sam DeMarco III was not charged in the August 2023 federal indictment of Donald Trump or named as one of its unindicted co-conspirators.

Connection to the incident

See 2020 Fake Elector Scheme for the coordinated multi-state effort. Pennsylvania's certificate, like New Mexico's, used conditional language distinct from the unconditional certificates signed in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin.