A southern Florida judge has dismissed the voter fraud charges against one of the 20 individuals whose claimed offenses were recently touted by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis.
These individuals were previously convicted of felony offenses but ineligible for the restoration of their voting rights under the terms of a state constitutional amendment approved by voters to let some felons vote. However, those charged in these cases were apparently provided voter registration cards by authorities, and officials specifically at the state level deal with applications for voter registration. Several individuals discussed in news reports were forthcoming about their criminal history in relation to registering to vote, without indications of a conspiracy to intentionally violate the law. A southern Florida woman named Romona Oliver registered with the assistance of staff at the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s office, who she says never specifically asked her about whether her right to vote was restored after a felony conviction she mentioned.
Individuals targeted by DeSantis were charged with felonies potentially resulting in up to five years in prison and financial penalties. In the case of Robert Lee Wood, who was charged with making a false affirmation on a voter application and voting as an unqualified elector, the judge concluded the state-level prosecutor pushing the case didn’t have the appropriate jurisdictional authority. The state and defense argued about the jurisdictions in which Wood’s alleged offenses could reasonably be said to have taken place — which was critical, because establishing the state prosecutor’s jurisdiction in this case meant showing the offenses took place in two judicial circuits. The state argued the crimes took place in Miami-Dade County and Leon County, the latter of which contains the state capital of Tallahassee. The idea was the criminal activity stretched there because state authorities dealt with Wood’s registration application and votes.
Wood claimed he didn’t even personally fill out his voter registration application. Instead, he says he simply signed a form provided by a voting rights advocate at a grocery store. The charges, including Wood’s, were announced in connection to the new Office of Election Crimes and Integrity, which started its work earlier this year. None of these charges reveal a conspiracy to alter the course of any election, and even with 20 people charged with felonies for administrative errors for which they weren’t all necessarily even responsible, there’s no clear indication the outcome of any election could have even been changed had none of them voted. Twenty votes would work out to somewhere near 0.000002 percent of all the votes cast in the 2020 presidential election across Florida.
“Larry Davis, the attorney for Wood, said that his motion to dismiss on grounds of jurisdiction has been circulated to attorneys representing the other election fraud defendants,” according to ABC.
