Investigators say Michelle Ziolkowski mailed an application in her late mother’s name and later said she wanted to test whether voter fraud was possible.
MT. LEBANON, PA — A Pittsburgh-area banking executive has been charged with forgery and tampering with public records after investigators accused her of submitting a voter-registration application in the name of her mother, who died five years ago.
Michelle Ziolkowski, 54, of Mt. Lebanon, faces misdemeanor charges stemming from a registration application mailed to the Allegheny County Elections Division in late September, according to a police account reported by WPXI. Investigators said the form was submitted in the name of Fern Winans, Ziolkowski’s mother, who died in September 2021. The available reporting describes an allegedly fraudulent registration application, not a ballot cast or counted in Winans’ name.
Winans’ voter registration had been canceled in October 2021 after election workers received notice of her death from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, investigators said. A 2021 estate notice published in the Pittsburgh Legal Journal also identifies Ziolkowski as the executrix of Winans’ estate. Authorities said the new application used Ziolkowski’s address and sought to register Winans as a Democrat. Investigators said both Winans and Ziolkowski had been registered as Republicans.
Detectives said the signature written for Winans on the new registration application resembled Ziolkowski’s handwriting. According to the police account, Ziolkowski initially told investigators that unsolicited voter-registration applications addressed to Winans had arrived in the mail and that she had thrown them away. Investigators said she later acknowledged completing and mailing the paperwork herself.
Police said Ziolkowski told investigators that she had heard claims about voter fraud and wanted to determine whether such fraud was possible. The police report quoted her as saying she mailed the form as a test. That account is an allegation contained in the investigation and has not been established by a court. Ziolkowski told WPXI that she had not been arrested and declined to answer additional questions when approached by the station.
Ziolkowski has been identified in professional biographies as a senior vice president and head of payables at Truist Financial Corp. WPXI reported that it sought comment from Truist but did not receive a response before its story was published. The criminal allegations concern Ziolkowski personally, and no information reviewed for this report indicates that Truist was involved in the alleged conduct.
Pennsylvania law defines forgery to include making or completing a writing so that it appears to be the act of another person who did not authorize it when the required fraudulent intent or knowledge is present. State law separately prohibits knowingly making false entries in government records or presenting a record known to be false with the intent that it be accepted as genuine. Whether prosecutors can prove those elements in Ziolkowski’s case will be determined through the court process.
Allegheny County spokeswoman Abigail Gardner told WPXI that the matter was the only voter-fraud case flagged by the county elections team during the 2026 election cycle. Pennsylvania election data showed more than 925,000 registered voters in Allegheny County shortly before the general election. County officials said election workers were still processing provisional ballots after the Nov. 3 election, while military and overseas ballots could be accepted through Nov. 10 under applicable deadlines.
The case also illustrates the distinction between an attempt to submit allegedly false registration information and the casting of a fraudulent ballot. The reporting and public information reviewed for this article do not establish that a ballot was requested, issued, returned or counted in Winans’ name. The allegation centers on the voter-registration application received by election officials.
Ziolkowski has not been convicted of the charges, and the allegations remain subject to court proceedings. Public reporting has listed a preliminary hearing for Dec. 2. No plea or final disposition was identified in the material reviewed as of Monday.
Author note: Last updated November 9, 2026.