Renzo Downey
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is calling on investigators to probe the decision by the state election police to prosecute 20 felons who are accused of illegally voting in 2020, a decision she calls a publicity stunt.
Fried, the lone Democratic member of the Florida Cabinet, on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Department of State’s Inspector General requesting the office investigate the decision to charge the 20 individuals and how election personnel incorrectly registered the individuals to vote.
“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.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the arrests last month as part of the first major news out of the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which came online in July under the Department of State. Immediately, the state received pushback for arresting the individuals, many of whom say they were under the impression they could vote after receiving the OK from local election offices.
Fried, a recent gubernatorial candidate who lost the Democratic nomination to Charlie Crist, has been a vocal critic of DeSantis. She previously called on the U.S. Department of Justice to monitor Florida’s election activities, including the police unit, and has called the unit part of an effort to intimidate voters.
“Left unanswered and unaddressed, the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security’s highly questionable actions create the perception of a state government willing to employ strict enforcement towards vulnerable citizens, while avoiding scrutiny of its own practices — bringing into question how election integrity is being preserved,” Fried concluded.
“Only by uncovering the state’s failures in this situation and why it merited such a draconian response against these 20 individuals causing them untold hardships, including why it was deemed necessary and by whom, can election integrity be claimed.”
The Governor’s Office declined to comment on the letter, and the Department of State did not immediately respond to Florida Politics.
The issue hinges on Amendment 4, which allows felons to vote when they complete their sentence, including after they pay restitution. However, the amendment excludes felons convicted of murder and sexual offenses until the State Clemency Board restores the individual’s right to vote. All 20 suspects are felons who had previously been convicted of murder or sexual offenses.
Although some of those arrested have said they were never told they couldn’t vote and even received voter registration cards, DeSantis stands by the fact that the felons were ineligible to vote and that, in registering, they falsely checked boxes affirming they are eligible to vote.
The 20 suspects face third-degree felonies associated with voting violations. The charges carry a possible $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison.
During a news conference last week, DeSantis put the onus of confirming a voter’s eligibility on local Supervisors of Elections.
“They’re the ones that are registering people. You go in your county and you register locally. You’re not registering in Tallahassee at the state government, and so it’s really their responsibility to ensure that those voting rolls are accurate,” he said.
The Governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, also told POLITICO that Supervisors should be held accountable if they are telling murderers they can vote.
However, a Department of State rule requires the state to provide the county offices with lists of people who potentially are ineligible because their rights have not been restored.
David Ulewicz, the Inspector General for the Department of State, reports to Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel, who was cc’d to Fried’s letter. Miguel, in turn, reports directly to DeSantis.
12 comments
Impeach Biden
September 6, 2022 at 5:06 pm
Who is Nikki Fried?
Elliott Offen
September 6, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Yeah need Nikki Fried anchovy scrub, tuna wipe, sardine face sit🐟🍩 Teach you a good lesson…Also Nancy Pelosi golden shower to wake you up from neo nazi slumber.
PeterH
September 6, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Florida’s ten million dollar “voter fraud police” … have resulted in the arrest of twenty people whose vote had absolutely no impact on the election.
Furthermore, DeSantis blames county officials who allowed these individuals to register and vote ….. when county officials have no access to any data base listing men and women who would be disqualified because of prior criminal records.
Fat Cammack
September 6, 2022 at 5:15 pm
Vote for me. I’m a conservative with true grits, and bacon and sausage and ham, with a dozen cheese eggs, a gallon of milk, waffles with two quarts of syrup, and of course biscuits with a half gallon of onion gravy. I might even throw in a bare assed face sit 🍩💋
Joe Corsin
September 6, 2022 at 5:34 pm
Biggest election thief and criminal is at Mar-a-Lago. Why doesn’t phoney right wing election police arrest Orange Hitler? Because they work for the SOB and people like him. If you are an elected Republican in Florida, you can do anything you want. That’s the message sent when they won’t even simply condemn the actions of Trump. Those election police are phoney political operatives and should be arrested by FBI.
Impeach Biden
September 6, 2022 at 7:06 pm
Nikki Fried Demands. Who the hell does she think she is? Her continuous attacks on the most popular Governor got her nowhere as she ran for the Demo nominee for Gov. Start packing up your office Nikki. You are finished.
Elliott Offen
September 6, 2022 at 7:39 pm
^In here sounding like a POW on television…or North Korean parade attendee praising dear leader.
Impeach Biden
September 6, 2022 at 7:55 pm
I demand that John Fetterman debate Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania. What is he afraid of? Looks like he is taking a page out of the “Basement Joe” playbook.
Elliott Offen
September 6, 2022 at 8:51 pm
Oz? Trump? Who would want to debate such phoneys????
Impeach Biden
September 6, 2022 at 8:58 pm
Oz and Trump are willing to debate. Fetterman and Biden hide in the basement and the MSM runs cover for them. Now we suffer the incompetence of this administration.
Jack Forrestal
September 7, 2022 at 12:02 am
Nikki Fried is a fundamentally dishonest politician who will say anything or do anything to get elected. Zero moral compass. If she’d been in office during covid, she’d have been a Gretchen Whitmer tyrant and would lock Florida down and cripple small businesses for no reason. Now she’ll do anything, say anything, for attention.
Good riddance.
Zane Overstreet
September 14, 2022 at 8:55 am
A quick internet search found the law in less than a minute and a Very Good explanation of how it works and how felons can figure out if they can vote etc
It’s obvious they either chose not to learn their rights or chose to break the law once again.
While election officials should do their best to not register felons etc it is ultimately the fault of the criminals who chose to be criminals.
My concern is why Nikki Fried would even think of fighting For 20 murderers etc.
Innocent people do get convicted but the fact is they were convicted and did time so are not eligible to vote so is she saying she wants the support of murderers and sexual predators while she’s proven she wants to disarm honest citizens by not supporting our right to defend ourselves against the very criminals she’s supporting?
Charlie Christ is bad…. Nikki is a whole lot worse.
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