In 2018, Donald Trump spread yet another of his conspiracy theories about voter fraud, saying that “people get in line that have absolutely no right to vote and they go around in circles. Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again.” There is no evidence that people are voting multiple times at the same location, nor is there evidence that any kind of voter fraud that would affect the outcome of any election has occurred. Nevertheless, Trump persisted in saying that Democrats were committing voter fraud.
BREAKING – A 4th resident of The Villages has been arrested for allegedly casting multiple ballots in the 2020 election. Charles Franklin Barnes was registered to vote in both Florida and Connecticut, records show. https://t.co/HciPIVcoJy #news6
— Mike DeForest (@DeForestNews6) January 5, 2022
As it turns out, many cases of voter fraud have been found by people voting to elect Trump. Four residents of The Villages, FL, in a county where Trump won by 36 points over Joe Biden, have been charged with voter fraud. The latest, 64-year-old Charles Franklin Barnes, was arrested and taken to the Sumter County Jail on Wednesday. He was reportedly released on a $2,000 bond.
According to The Daily Beast:
‘Three other residents of The Villages, all reportedly registered as Republicans, were arrested last year for allegedly casting ballots in both Florida and their home states. Soon after, Lake County officials said they’d handed another six potential cases of double voting over to prosecutors.’
Joan Halstead, Jay Ketcik and John Rider of The Villages face felony charges of casting more than one ballot in an election, according to arrest reports. Facebook profiles appearing to belong to Halstead and Rider have pro-Trump content. https://t.co/NEdU4PeQrC pic.twitter.com/d0GUG7c74m
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) December 14, 2021
Just like Trump’s other election claims, including allegations of counties reporting more votes than they had residents, that Democrats shipped in votes in food vans, that voting machines were rigged to register Trump votes as Biden votes, and that dead people voted, claims by Trump that enough voter fraud occurred in swing states (but not states that he won and in no instance in which a Republican won in any state) to shift a win from one candidate to another has been debunked. The same can be said for his statements about people voting twice at the same polling place; in fact, Trump supporters just go to different states to vote.
‘Though records show Barnes is not registered with a political party in Florida, he allegedly voted there in the 2020 presidential election, as well as in Connecticut, where he is registered to vote.’
Rex, I live here in The Villages. You do not know how rabid these GQP are here. If you have a Biden bumper sticker, they’ll key your car. They still fly flags and have signs up to reelect #45. For being as old as they are, they have an awful lot of energy to create drama 😂
— 🌸🦋Joy🦋🌸BSN,RN,CLC (@rn_wing) January 5, 2022
Three other residents of The Villages, FL cast multiple votes for Trump and have been charged with fraud. Jay Ketcik, 63, Joan Halstead, 71, and John Rider, 61, all registered Republicans, have also been arrested.
The Daily Beast reported that:
‘Each of them have reportedly been charged with casting more than one ballot in the election—a crime that could land them in prison for as long as five years. Ketcik allegedly voted by mail in Florida while also casting an absentee ballot in Michigan; Halstead is accused of voting in-person in Florida and as an absentee in New York; and Rider allegedly voted in Florida and an unspecified out-of-state location.’
November 2020: Republican businessman Donald Kirk Hartle is shocked and sickened to learn that someone cast a ballot in his dead wife’s name.
October 2021: Donald Kirk Hartle is charged with voter fraud for casting a ballot in his dead wife’s name.
🎥 @8NewsNow @maddow pic.twitter.com/JKnw0KBpgy
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 23, 2021