TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s agriculture commissioner desires a state investigation of the recent arrests of as much as 20 felons for unlawful voting within the 2020 election.
Nikki Fried, a Democrat and former candidate for governor, is questioning the motives of Florida’s new Election Crimes Office as many charged have mentioned they thought they had been following the legislation.
“While under current law, these individuals were not eligible to vote, the persecution of this predominantly Black group of Floridians who broke the law without intent is not only disproportionate punishment but cruel,” Fried wrote. “That cruelty is even more so as it becomes evident that what should have been investigated was how and why the state provided ineligible voters with registrations and that their traumatic arrests appear to have been done for pure publicity purposes, stoking fear and discouraging others who are eligible from exercising their rights to vote in the future.”
Fried’s letter comes about three weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis first introduced the arrests. During a press conference in Broward County, the Republican mentioned the 20 might face a $5,000 wonderful and as much as three years in jail.
“Our new election crimes office has sprung into action to hold individuals accountable for voter fraud,” DeSantis mentioned within the news release that adopted his announcement. “Today’s actions send a clear signal to those who are thinking about ballot harvesting or fraudulently voting. If you commit an elections crime, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Though disqualified beneath Florida legislation for a intercourse crime or murder conviction, these charged have mentioned they did not know they had been forbidden from voting in 2020. Election supervisors even despatched some voter registration playing cards.
“These people could be facing a serious, serious prison sentence for something they believed they had the right to do,” Fried mentioned Tuesday afternoon.
Fried was removed from assured the inspector normal’s workplace would fulfill her proposition.
During her time as Florida’s agriculture commissioner, the politician has ceaselessly referred to as on the workplace to analyze state actions with little success. She rejected criticism that her motives had been political following this most up-to-date request.
“This has nothing to do with politics,” Fried mentioned. “This is me doing my job, and I’ve been doing that for three and a half years, holding the governor accountable, and I’m going to continue doing that for as long as he is in office. And so this was not political. This was a response to a political decision that he made.”
The governor’s workplace deferred to the state division for remark. Officials there did not instantly provide an announcement. The secretary of state, in the meantime, has maintained the felons charged bear fault for the alleged crimes.
“The ultimate responsibility lies with the person registering to vote,” Secretary of State Cord Byrd mentioned last week.
Byrd advised us throughout a press gathering that election supervisors and state officers are tasked with conserving electoral rolls clear, however voters should attest on registration varieties whether or not they’re certified to solid a poll.
“Let’s make no mistake, those 20 people who were arrested, they perjured themselves on the form,” mentioned the previous Republican lawmaker. “They lied, and when you lie, bad things happen.”
Prosecutors will seemingly have to show the ex-convicts had willful intent to make the voter fraud fees stick. That’s one thing even fellow Republicans have told us shall be tough given the alleged confusion of these going through penalties.