Q&A – Why Are There Unprosecuted Voter Fraud Cases In South Florida?
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Today’s entry: Brian, great interview with J Christian on the unprosecuted voter fraud. I didn’t catch where I can get the info. Do you have it? Also, I’d like to know about what kind of voter fraud has been referred to prosecutors that they’ve not acted on. Isn’t it interesting that prosecutors pursued a fraud case in Ilena Garcia’s win last year but have ignored so many others?
Bottom Line: I hit on this abit inyesterday’s Top 3 Takeaways, but have continued to hear from listeners wanting more on this story. And it’s warranted. I too find it remarkable that it took a third-party watch dog to uncover the fact that we have 156 pending voter fraud cases, most of which are in South Florida, that have been referred to prosecutors but not acted on by them. And to the point referenced in this note, it’s not just as though there’s been complete dereliction of duty in this regard. There was a quick and successful prosecution of the only contested election in Florida last year. The Senate District 37 race in which Republican Ileana Garcia flipped a seat from Democrat Javier Rodriguez. An original 21 vote margin of victory grew to 34 votes after a recount. However, Democrats cried foul suggesting there was an attempt by a Republican operative to create a “straw candidate” to create voter confusion and aid Garcia with a non-party affiliated candidate named Alex Rodriguez. The votes and election were verified and certified, however the prosecution was successful in taking down a political operative who was behind the plan to enter the so-called straw candidate into the race. So why was that case pursued and not the dozens of others before the same prosecutor?
The non-cynical answer to that question is that it was the only election in question, therefore it’s the only instance of irregularities that may have resulted in impacting an election’s outcome. The cynical approach might include the suggestion that the prosecutor pursed that case because the shenanigans were carried out by a Republican operative. Either way it’s unacceptable for referred voter, fraud cases to be left idle. As J. Christian Adams, of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, who discovered these unprosecuted cases mentioned to me...unprosecuted voter fraud only leads to more voter fraud.
As evidenced in the PILF’s report, there are currently 156 pending voter fraud cases in Florida which have been referred to prosecutors but haven’t been pursued by prosecutors. That includes 12 unprosecuted voter fraud cases in Palm Beach County, 42 in Miami-Dade and 78 in Broward. Now, you wanted to know what types of cases we’re talking about. Here’s a breakout of the various types of monitored fraud that’s beenreferredbut not prosecuted:
- Voting multiple times in a single election
- Forging voter signatures
- Felon voting without restoration of rights
- Non-citizens voting
- Votes cast in the names of the deceased
Obviously, it runs the gambit. The prosecutors specifically in question regarding these unpursued cases are Harold Pryor in Broward, Katherine Rundle in Miami-Dade and Dave Aronberg in Palm Beach County. Now, it’s worth noting that there’s no certainty that all or even any of these cases would be proven in court, however these are cases where evidence has been produced that’s sufficient to bring about the referrals to prosecutors. And that takes us to the conclusion and recommendations issued by the PILF.
- Prosecutors fail to prosecute election crimes for a number of reasons. Among them are ideological opposition to enforcing the law. Prosecutorswho adopt this approach should not be prosecutors.
- Other reasons why prosecutors fail to prosecute election crimes include unfamiliarity with trying an election crimes case and a general lack of experience. This can be remedied if state officials conduct systematic training and provide county prosecutors the benefits of continuing education from experienced lawyers who have successfully conducted election crimes prosecutions, before there are no more to train them.
- Another reason election crimes are not prosecuted is that the media’s steady drumbeat that voter fraud does not exist makes prosecutors skittish about enforcing the law. They are afraid of becoming the story.
- Florida would benefit from a standardized reporting system that accounts for the number of referrals generated by supervisors of elections, the particular electionsin question, and whether cases are open or closed by prosecutors. Such a system would greatly sustain overall voter confidence and hedge against post-election misinformation.
- The Florida Legislature could amend existing election law to require that supervisors of elections refer potential violations of election law to prosecuting authorities. Wisconsin offers a similar framework, particularly as it relates to reporting.
- Election workers must be carefully trained to read and understand all entries in poll books to prevent double voting, whether intentional or unintentional.
- Florida officials would be wise to regularly remind the public about laws governing petition collection and identity protection.
- Florida officials must remind the general public that foreign nationals are not eligible to register and vote under any circumstance.
- Florida officials should remind the general public that they have the tools to detect voters casting ballots from their primary and vacation homes. To do otherwise risks real prison time.
It all makes sense to me. Hense why Governor DeSantis is right to seek a statewide agency to spearhead election fraud investigations. If local prosecutors won’t do it, or only choose to selectively do it, it’s an injustice to all Floridians and there is an opportunity to fix this – independent of replacing unresponsive prosecutors.