‘How did I commit fraud?’ Ex-felon voters confused by arrests, DeSantis’ announcement
Even one of the Republican sponsors of the bill that interpreted Amendment 14 into law had an issue with the arrests:
>>"I think it’s really up to law enforcement and state attorneys to exercise a level of grace and mercy where they believe that their intent was not to defraud,” Brandes said.<<
Some are calling this legal entrapment.
>>When Romona Oliver registered to vote in early 2020 at the Hillsborough Tax Collector’s office, she was asked if she had a felony conviction. She said yes. The women helping her with the form submitted it, Oliver said. She said she was never asked specifically if her right to vote had been restored. Oliver, a Tampa resident, had recently been released from a women’s prison in Florida after serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder.
In the last few months of her time in prison, Oliver said she’d read about Amendment 4, a constitutional amendment approved by about 65% of Floridians in 2018, which restored the voting rights of most felons who had completed all terms of their sentence. No one told her she didn’t qualify under Amendment 4; the law doesn’t apply to those with sex offenses or murder charges. She registered as a Democrat and got her voter card in the mail.
In the 2020 presidential election, she voted. It was the first time Oliver, 55, ever did. “It was exciting for me because I felt like after all that time, I want to get out and try to do the right thing,” she said. “Give back to the community.” On Thursday morning, Oliver was arrested on a charge of voting as an unqualified elector and false affirmation. That afternoon, Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the arrests of 20 people, Oliver included, who had voted despite having a felony conviction for murder or a sex offense. Those arrested spanned five different counties: Hillsborough, Orange, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade...
A few weeks ago, Oliver said she found a Florida Department of Law Enforcement business card in her door frame. She called and was told officers had found something fraudulent on her account.
She thought they meant her bank account. When the officers came to her job and asked if she had voted in 2020, she said yes. Oliver still didn’t understand what was wrong when the police came to her door Thursday morning and put her in cuffs. “I ain’t done nothing but go to work and come home,” she said. Oliver and others were charged with a third-degree felony, which can result in up to $5,000 in fines and up to five years in prison.
Oliver said she worries whether she’ll be able to keep her job as a seamstress with another felony conviction, or if she’ll have to return to jail. She worries about who will look after her
Amendment 4 supporters argue that Thursday’s arrests are another sign that the current system for restoring votes for non-violent felons is broken.
We’ve been banging this drum for years,” Volz said. “If you can’t trust the government to tell you whether you’re eligible in the front end, how can you prosecute somebody in the back end?” The rollout of Amendment 4 in Florida was marred by confusion and legal wrangling after DeSantis pushed state lawmakers to pass a bill that required felons to pay off all fines and fees and restitution before being able to vote, even though Florida has no central database to track court fees. A judge referred to it as an “administrative nightmare.”<<