ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida state Sen. Randolph Bracy (D-Ocoee) sought to “call out” Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday in a news conference regarding the arrests of 20 individuals on election fraud charges.
During the news conference at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office, Bracy offered up the resources of his office to help people who have been convicted of a felony find out whether they have any lingering fines that would prevent them from registering to vote.
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“We have access to different clerk of courts throughout the state and so we can help find out a little bit quicker — depending on where their charge was committed — how much they owe,” Bracy said. ”So we can give them that information quickly. We just don’t want people to be intimidated.”
Bracy looked to “denounce the actions” of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who announced last week that nearly two dozen people were arrested on voter fraud charges.
Three of the arrestees were booked into Orange County jail, including 59-year-old Peter Washington, of Orlando; 52-year-old Michelle Stribling, of Eatonville; and 72-year-old Jerry Foster, of Orlando.
“It’s clear that these cases won’t be able to be prosecuted because the law clearly says there had to be willful intent to defraud the government,” Bracy said. “In these cases that their arresting people (in), there has been no willful intent proven.”
Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes offered a similar message Friday on Twitter.
“It was our intent that those ineligible would be granted some grace by the state if they registered without intent to commit voter fraud,” Brandes posted online. “Some of the individuals did check with SOEs and believed they could register.”
As the author of the bill implementing amend 4 it was our intent that those ineligible would be granted some grace by the state if they registered without intent to commit voter fraud. Some of the individuals did check with SOEs and believed they could register. #Intentmatters https://t.co/3IXmSuIpSe
— Jeff Brandes (@JeffreyBrandes) August 19, 2022
Bracy said anyone who was previously convicted of a felony can call his office at 407-297-2045 for assistance with determining whether they eligible to vote.
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