Florida Voters Were Registered Falsely as Republicans: Charges

A woman in Florida faces charges after officials said she registered voters as Republicans without their consent. Cheryl Hall was working for Florida First, the New York Times reports. The group is bankrolled by an organization that backs President Trump, America First Policies. Hall was charged Thursday with 10 felony counts of submitting false voter registration information in Lake County and released on $20,000 bond. At least six of the new voters are Democrats or independents. The local elections supervisor suspects she turned in another 109 forms with false information. The voters' names were correct on the forms, but birthdates, Social Security numbers, and other information were wrong, causing the forms to be kicked out automatically by the county's election database.

"It's just really bizarre," Alan Hays said. "I don't know what part of her imagination was convinced she could get away with this." The handwriting on some falsified forms doesn't match Hall's, leading Hays to suspect other Florida First workers might have been involved. Three new voters have reported changes they didn't approve since the case became public, Hays said. Investigators, however, said they don't think the organization itself is behind the fraud, per the Miami Herald. Lake County, which is near Orlando, has already begun early voting for Florida's presidential primary, which is March 17. Florida First's director said the organization is working with county officials "to ensure every voter is properly registered to vote." (More voter registration stories.)