Florida Republican Establishment Doesn't Care About Absentee Voter Fraud

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement gets its budget approved by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott. It it no surprise to me that the FDLE did not look deeply into the voter fraud committed by Strategic Allied Consulting. Jeff Jewett worked for Strategic Allied Consulting and told the Miami Herald that the FDLE showed a lack of interest in voter fraud.

Jewett, the one who reported the crime, the one who supervised the employee and could best inform investigators if this was an isolated case or was more systemic, was never interviewed.

“I was surprised,” Jewett said. “I figured they’d be interested in talking to me considering I was the one who turned him in.”

Such a lack of initiative is baffling for an investigation into a crime that Gov. Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers had made a top priority in prosecuting and preventing. In the 18 months leading to last year’s presidential campaign, they said the specter of voter registration fraud was so great that it was necessary to push for a purge of ineligible voters and a new law that made it harder to register voters.

Strategic Allied Consulting was hired by the Republican Party of Florida. Considering the political ramifications, it is not surprising that the FDLE investigation was lacking enthusiasm. Daniel Smith has been covering Republican voter suppression for quite some time. Like me, Smith questions the motives of the FDLE.

“They never talked to the whistle blower?” said Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political scientist who analyzes state election laws, when told about Jewett. “That’s unbelievable. You just wonder if the FDLE is sitting on this and hoping it withers away.”

I am not wondering. As we have seen, the Republican voting laws don't stop the nearly nonexistent problem of voting fraud. The laws are targeted at people likely to vote for the Democratic Party. Republicans have had an advantage in absentee ballots. Gov. Rick Scott did not want to comment when absentee ballot fraud was discovered in Florida.

When asked about the news about the absentee ballot fraud in Miami-Dade and state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle stepping aside from that case leaving an appointment in his hands, he said “we’ll take a look at it.” He said he wouldn’t appoint a special prosecutor on Friday but didn’t say exactly when he would appoint one.

Scott stuck to generalities -- saying that he wanted to make sure noncitzens don’t vote and repeatedly said he wants to “make sure our elections are honest and fair.”

But he didn’t show any alarm or appear to be working on any proposals for reform. Scott said that the system appears to be working -- which perhaps was a reference to the arrest in the Miami-Dade absentee ballot fraud case. When asked if his staff was researching a proposal for the Legislature to address absentee ballot fraud he said “the Secretary of State’s office will be reviewing it.”

The man that disastrously cut early voting and made it harder for groups such as the League of Women Voters to register new voters has been mum on absentee ballot fraud. Scott wants to rig to voting system. Not fix it.

Strategic Allied Consulting Voter Fraud

Congressman Bobby Scott has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Strategic Allied Consulting. The Republican voter registration firm is under investigation in Florida and Virginia. Holder is not known as a fearless lawman. I have doubts of Scott's letter carrying much weight.

Attorney General Holder, We are writing today to urge the Department of Justice to conduct a multi-state investigation to determine if a pattern of voting registration irregularities related to Strategic Allied Consulting are connected and constitute a broader conspiracy of voter registration fraud. Our inquiry is prompted by the recent media reports that an employee of Pinpoint, a subsidiary of Strategic Allied Consulting, was charged in Rockingham County, Virginia with 13 counts of destruction of voter registration applications, disclosure of voter registration information, and obstruction of justice. We note that in addition to its Rockingham County operation, Pinpoint is reportedly operating in at least five other jurisdictions in Virginia: Chesapeake City, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Loudoun County, and Virginia Beach. We also note that prior to drawing a paycheck from Pinpoint, the charged individual was under the direct employ of Strategic Allied Consulting. As you are aware, Strategic Allied Consulting is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and faces more than 200 allegations of voter registration fraud including registration of the deceased. Allegations of voter registration fraud by Strategic Allied Consulting also have been raised in Arizona and Colorado. The number of allegations in a multitude of locations would seem to suggest something more than the isolated acts of "a few bad apples." While the Republican National Committee and five state committees have severed their relationship with Strategic Allied Consulting, we are concerned that the alleged illegal practices may be continuing under its subsidiary Pinpoint. We respectfully request the Justice Department to assume the responsibility and conduct its own investigation, given the mounting evidence that one company may have been engaged in a similar multi-state effort to commit voter registration fraud. We believe the circumstances warrant a broader federal review. We look forward to your favorable response. Sincerely, James P. Moran Gerry Connolly

Robert C. Scott

Nine counties in Florida reported receiving fake voter registration forms from Strategic Allied Consulting.

Strategic Allied Consultants claims the issue stemmed from one employee, who was fired on Sept. 15, but county election officials claim the fraud was more widespread, stretching across counties that are more than 500 miles apart.

"I don't subscribe to the theory that this was the action of one single individual who was able to get into more than half a dozen counties from one end of Florida to the other," said Paul Lux, the Okaloosa County Election Supervisor.

Lux said that out of 2,200 forms that Strategic Allied workers submitted, he and his staff have found about three dozen that appear to be faked. Some have signatures that do not match the names; others are only partially completed and a handful of forms have addresses that do not exist, he said.

"The problem is when you pay someone to do something like this, it kind of lends itself to what do you do to get paid?" Lux said.

Strategic Allied Consulting is run by Nathan Sproul. His firm was hired by the Republican Party of Florida. Unsurprisingly, Gov. Rick Scott was been less than vocal in calling out Sproul and SAC.

Pressed by reporters on how these developing concerns might damage the credibility of Florida Republicans, who have promoted repeated voter purge efforts as supposed proof of their commitment to the integrity of elections, Scott sidestepped.

"My focus is on making sure that I tell people all the time, that in our state, I want people to go register to vote," Scott said, according to the Herald. "They need to go talk to the candidates. When you’re running for office, when you’re in your community or in your state, vet the candidates, get involved, pick your candidates, support them, and then go out the vote. That’s where my focus is."

Scott has signed controversial voting laws. Scott has limited the number of early voting days. Scott did this all in the name of stopping voter fraud. When a Republican voter regristration firm is cited for voter fraud Scott's lips are sealed.