A Miami man facing up to five years for voting fraud says he was under the impression that his rights were restored because he received a voter ID card.
Ronald Lee Miller, 57, who has been incarcerated for murder, said he registered to vote after a campaigner at a supermarket told him he was eligible in 2020, and encouraged him to fill out a form.
“I got it out of the mailbox thinking that my rights were restored, like the guy told me when I filled the paper out, so I was happy,” Miller told Local 10.
However, in mid-August, Miller was awakened in the wee hours of the morning by a barrage of armed officers. Miller was one of 20 people in Florida rounded up by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election crimes and security task force for election fraud for registering to vote with past convictions.
“My house was surrounded by 50 U.S. marshals,” he said. “You do me like that? For a card?”
With a murder conviction, the only way Miller could get his voting rights restored is to file an application with the state’s clemency board only if it has been 10 years since he completed his sentence, probation or parole.
The governor has shown some resistance to voting rights restoration during his one term as Florida governor. While Florida voters took to the polls and selected him as their next governor by a tight margin in November 2018, 65 percent also voted to approve a constitutional amendment that automatically restored voting rights to citizens with past convictions, excluding murder and serious sex crimes.
“All 20 of these individuals were disqualified from voting after they were convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, but they chose to vote anyway, and now they have all been charged with voter fraud — a third-degree felony punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and up to 5 years in prison,” DeSantis’ office said in an Aug. 18 statement.
In June 2019, the governor signed a bill into law blocking formerly incarcerated people from automatically getting their rights restored unless they pay off all of their court fees, restitution and other legal obligations. However, voting advocacy groups have sued to try to stop the measure from taking effect.
“Our new election crimes office has sprung into action to hold individuals accountable for voter fraud,” DeSantis said on Aug. 18. “Today’s actions send a clear signal to those who are thinking about ballot harvesting or fraudulently voting. If you commit an elections crime, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
DeSantis signed a bill creating the Office of Election Crimes and Security in April, which is tasked with “investigating all election crimes in Florida and overseeing the implementation of measures that will ensure Florida’s elections remain secure.”
According to the reports, most of the people arrested that August morning for election fraud committed their previous crimes decades ago.
Robert Simpson of Pahokee, a city on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, served time for murder three decades ago, reports show. Simpson said he also thought his rights were restored. He filled out a voter registration form and also received a voter ID card.
While DeSantis has put the blame on local election supervisors, officials say there is no statewide system that sufficiently flags someone ineligible to vote.
“No kind of way it’s fair,” Simpson said. “It’s got to be some kind of setup.”
Miller said he received a letter last month after the fact, informing him that he was ineligible to vote.
“Why (didn’t) you send this paper right here before you sent the card?” Miller asked.
Florida officials reportedly stand behind the arrests but have acknowledged many of the people arrested signed forms pushed by voting advocates and thought it was legit.
