A Florida woman is charged with multiple felony counts of submitting fraudulent voter registration information after authorities say she switched the party affiliations of voters without their knowledge.
Cheryl A. Hall, 63, of Clermont, Florida, is accused of filling out at least 10 voter registration forms with incorrect information — filing Democratic and Independent voters with the Republican Party, The New York Times first reported. Some of the forms also appeared to have forged signatures.
Hall, who was working for a voter registration group with ties to pro-Trump super PAC America First, turned herself into Lake County Sheriff’s officials Thursday, March 5, court records show. She was subsequently charged with 10 felony counts of submitting false voter registration information, and released after posting $20,000 bond.
Sheriff’s investigators said a total of 119 fraudulent voter registration forms had been filed with the Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office; all were assigned to Hall to collect on behalf of third-party organization Florida First, authorities found.
Alan Hays, supervisor of elections for the county, said he knew something wasn’t quite right when his office began receiving complaints from concerned voters who received mail indicating they were registered with a different party.
“Voters begin calling here last week, telling us that they had begun receiving new voter information cards from our office indicating [there] had been changes from registered Democrats to registered Republican Party members,” Hays told Orlando station WFTV. “Voters denied filling out that form that would make that change.”
Ten of those voters have since filed formal complaints, said Hays.
Elections officials said many of the registrations were also flagged because they contained incorrect information, including Social Security numbers and birth dates.
Many with the county’s Republican Party expressed shock at news of Hall’s alleged fraudulent activities. Lake County Republican Party chairman Walter Price told station News 6 that Hall, who many described as a “rank and file” member of the organization, was formerly elected as a district representative to handle voter initiatives.
“Certainly, we do not condone this type of behavior,” Price said. “As we speak, I’ve started the process to have her removed (as a member).”
Florida First state director Elicia Babac, addressed the incident in a statement, saying the organization is actively working with state elections officials to ensure “every voter is properly registered to vote. Florida First will continue to work tirelessly to serve communities that may be underrepresented, and provide them access to voter registration services,” Babac told The Times.
Early voting is currently underway, with Florida’s presidential primary set for March 17.
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