Florida officials have arrested and charged 20 people with felony convictions and charged them with illegal voting, according to the governor.
The state attorney was suspended for 'wokeness'.
Early voting is under way for the state's primary election. The 20 people were charged with voting in some of the most Democratic areas of the state.
They didn't go through any process, they didn't get their rights restored, but they voted anyways. They are going to pay the price for that because it is against the law. He said that all of the 20 had been convicted of crimes that resulted in lifetime voting ban in the state. The ban on all other offenses was lifted in Florida.
indictments and warrants weren't immediately available after the governor released few other details. It's significant that there isn't a lot of detail. Many people with felonies can be confused about their eligibility because of the complex rules surrounding voting with a felony. In Florida, there have been cases where people who had been convicted of felonies were found to be confused and therefore ineligible to vote. Since they are being monitored, people with felonies can be easy targets for prosecutors.
The office of election crimes and security is a first-of-its-kind office that was created this year to investigate voter fraud. The head of that office said it was a special day. He said that this is the day that fraud will be taken seriously.
Blair Bowie is a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center who specializes in voting rights for people with felony convictions.
It was difficult for people to figure out if they could vote again after the lifetime voting ban was lifted in Florida. Florida election officials testified in court that they would flag ineligible people on the voting rolls.
When voter registration applications are submitted, it is the job of the state of Florida to determine if the person is eligible. Every day, the Florida Director of Elections would check every registration to make sure it was eligible. She said that the first thing they would look for was the ineligible convictions.
If Florida had denied these voter registration, ineligible voters wouldn't have been able to cast a ballot. They are spending money on people who are not guilty.
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