https://www.yahoo.com/news/wrong-state-video-shows-stunned-090000722.html
Miami Herald
Lawrence Mower
Tue, October 18, 2022 at 2:00 AM·5 min read
When police went to arrest Tony Patterson outside his Tampa home in
August, he couldn’t believe the reason.
“What is wrong with this state, man?” Patterson protested as he was
being escorted to a police car in handcuffs. “Voter fraud? Y’all said
anybody with a felony could vote, man.”
Body-worn camera footage recorded by local police captured the confusion
and outrage of Hillsborough County residents who found themselves in
handcuffs for casting a ballot following investigations by Gov. Ron
DeSantis’ new Office of Election Crimes and Security.
The Aug. 18 arrests — conducted hours before DeSantis called a news
conference to tout his crackdown on alleged voter fraud — were carried
out by state police officers accompanied by local law enforcement.
The never-before-seen footage, obtained by the Herald/Times through
public records requests, offers a personal glimpse of the effects of
DeSantis’ efforts to root out perceived voter fraud.
“They’re going to pay the price,” DeSantis said during the news
conference announcing the arrests.
Of the 19 people arrested, 12 were registered as Democrats and at least
13 are Black, the Herald/Times found.
Romona Oliver, 55, was about to leave for work when police walked up her
driveway at 6:52 a.m. and told her they had a warrant for her arrest.
“Oh my God,” she said.
An officer told her she was being arrested for fraud, a third-degree
felony, for voting illegally in 2020.
“Voter fraud?” she said. “I voted, but I ain’t commit no fraud.”
READ MORE: DeSantis announces arrests in Florida for voting fraud
Oliver and 19 others are facing up to five years in prison after being
accused by DeSantis and state police of both registering, and voting,
illegally.
They are accused of violating a state law that doesn’t allow people
convicted of murder or felony sex offenses to automatically be able to
vote after they complete their sentence. A 2018 state constitutional
amendment that restored the right to vote to many felons excluded this
group.
But, as the videos further support, the amendment and subsequent actions
by state lawmakers caused mass confusion about who was eligible, and the
state’s voter registration forms offer no clarity. They only require a
potential voter to swear, under penalty of perjury, that they’re not a
felon, or if they are, that their rights have been restored. The forms
do not clarify that those with murder convictions don’t get automatic
restoration of their rights.
Oliver, who served 18 years in prison on a second-degree murder charge,
registered to vote at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles on Feb. 14, 2020. Six months later, she updated her address and
completed another registration form.
After brief eligibility checks by the Department of State — which
reports to DeSantis and is responsible for cleaning the rolls of
ineligible voters — she was given a voter ID card both times.
READ MORE: ‘Money talks’: DeSantis goes after small-scale voter crimes,
is silent on FPL and Matrix
Oliver wasn’t removed from the rolls until March 30 this year, more than
two years later.
‘There’s your defense’
The recordings by Tampa police and Hillsborough County sheriff’s
deputies reveal officers who were patient, understanding — almost
apologetic.
A handcuffed Nathan Hart, 49, found a sympathetic ear when he explained
how he ended up registering and voting illegally, according to the
sheriff’s office recording.
As he stood handcuffed, he told officers that he signed up to vote at
the encouragement of somebody at “the driver’s license place.” Records
show it was in March 2020.
“I said, ‘I’m a convicted felon, I’m pretty sure I can’t,’ ” Hart, a
registered sex offender, told officers. “He goes, ‘Well, are you still
on probation?’ ”
Hart’s probation had ended a month earlier, Hart recalled. The person
told him to sign up anyway.
“He said, ‘Well, just fill out this form, and if they let you vote, then
you can,’ ” Hart said. “ ‘If they don’t, then you can’t.’ ”
“Then there’s your defense,” one of the officers replied. “You know what
I’m saying? That sounds like a loophole to me.”
“Well, we can hope,” Hart said.
The officer was correct in one way: State law says that a voter has to
“willfully” commit the crime — a hurdle that has forced some prosecutors
not to charge ineligible voters.
In Lake County this year, for example, prosecutors declined to bring
charges against six convicted sex offenders who voted in 2020.
READ MORE: Cases against arrested voters on shaky legal ground. Florida
issued them voter IDs
“In all of the instances where sex offenders voted, each appear to have
been encouraged to vote by various mailings and misinformation,”
prosecutor Jonathan Olson wrote. “Each were given voter registration
cards which would lead one to believe they could legally vote in the
election. The evidence fails to show willful actions on a part of these
individuals.”
‘Political Strategy’
DeSantis’ voter fraud arrests are being carried out by the Office of
Statewide Prosecution, which is restricted by law to prosecuting crimes,
including voting, involving two or more judicial circuits. Those crimes
are usually “complex, often large scale, organized criminal activity,”
according to its website. The statewide prosecutor is Nicholas Cox, who
was reappointed by Attorney General Ashley Moody in 2019.
Oliver’s lawyer, Tampa attorney Mark Rankin, said he thinks DeSantis’
election security force chose these 20 in particular because the public
would not have sympathy for people who were convicted of murder or
sexual offenses. During a news conference announcing the arrests,
DeSantis noted their criminal records.
“That’s not an accident,” Rankin said. “That’s a political strategy.”
READ MORE: ‘How did I commit fraud?’ Ex-felon voters confused by
arrests, DeSantis’ announcement
Public defenders representing Hart and Patterson declined to comment.
Patterson, a registered sex offender, wondered why he was being singled
out when officers showed up at his home, the recording shows.
“This happened years ago,” he told officers. “Why now? Why me?”
Even the Tampa police officer driving Patterson to the jail seemed
surprised by the charges against him. En route, the officer received a
phone call and appeared to briefly discuss Patterson’s case.
“I’ve never seen these charges before in my entire life,” the officer said.
Handcuffed in the back seat, Patterson, 40, stewed. He said his brother
encouraged him to register to vote.
“I always listen to everybody else. Vote for this. Vote for — come on,
man,” Patterson grumbled. “I thought felons were able to vote. That’s
why I signed a petition form, that’s what I remember.
“Why would you let me vote if I wasn’t able to vote?”
“I’m not sure, buddy,” the officer replied. “I don’t know.”