Associated Press
A fourth resident of a massive Florida retirement community has been arrested on a charge of voter fraud.
Charles Barnes, 64, was arrested Tuesday and charged with voter fraud for casting more than one ballot, according to an arrest affidavit filed in court.
The arrest affidavit doesn’t detail the basis for the charge. Barnes entered a not guilty plea on Thursday.
His attorney, Victor Mead, didn’t immediately return an email inquiry.
Online voting records showed Barnes wasn’t affiliated with any political party and that he first registered to vote in Sumter County in 2019.
Barnes’ arrest was the fourth for voter fraud in the past two months of residents of The Villages retirement community in a county that is a Republican stronghold in Florida. Of the three other residents, two were registered Republicans and the third had no party affiliation.
The arrests come after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes, despite there being little evidence of electoral malfeasance by voters in the Sunshine State.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press
7 comments
Concern Citizen
January 6, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Trump is correct that there is voter fraud. It is coming from his supporters.
Alex
January 6, 2022 at 5:18 pm
Mass insanity has taken over the GOP.
Don’t Look Up
January 6, 2022 at 5:24 pm
“The Villages” is getting quite a bit of attention….. but the Justice Department is targeting five locations on Florida’s west coast for similar voting irregularities.
This is just the tip of the Republican voter fraud iceberg. Biden’s Justice department is investigating numerous Republican voters who are registered and voted in two States. Many many Florida residents live here part time and have homes in Northern states. Tax evasion and voter fraud is a crime.
Lynda
January 8, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Sources, please and name 5 “locations” being investigated.
On the West coast of FL , much of our economy is dependent on seasonal or tourist visitors, Canadians (in non-pandemic years) and residents moving here for jobs or retirements adding to the population of FL.
Some of us maintained non-homestead property in Fl. for years as we visited frequently. When we moved permanently to Florida, our driver’s license changed at the same time as our voter registration. Depending on the moving from state’s organization people would need to have intent to vote twice in two states; it is unlikely to be an accident.
PeterH
January 6, 2022 at 5:26 pm
“The Villages” says it all. This should have been expected.
Ocean Joe
January 6, 2022 at 7:17 pm
Trump was telling people to vote twice in North Carolina, to ‘test’ the system. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/us/politics/trump-people-vote-twice.html
He should pay these folks’ legal bills, along with everybody he goaded into ransacking the Capitol.
On the bright side, there are two available pickle ball courts and four open seats at the bar.
just bored
January 16, 2022 at 3:34 pm
oh grandma, sneaky cheaty
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