ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced 20 people were charged with election fraud in Florida.
Investigative Reporter Louis Bolden covered the announcement. Then, he took things one step further.
Bolden reached out to some of the Central Floridians involved in the investigation.
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Two suspects told him they were allowed to register to vote.
So, he looked into how that could happen and went to Chief Judge Lisa Munyon for answers. Munyon told him, “It’s a pretty complicated system if you’re not familiar with it... I can understand how people can be confused.”
Bolden also talked to State Sen. Jeff Brandes, the Florida senator who helped write Amendment 4. The amendment was approved in 2018 by Florida voters to restore voting rights for returning citizens who have paid their fines, fees and restitution, and who have completed their sentences for non-violent or non-sexual crimes.
“We thought that there needed to be some grace, and so we put the word ‘willingly’ in, which means they have to have knowledge of what they’re doing in order to actually commit a crime,” Brandes said.
Now, Bolden is sitting down with “Florida’s Fourth Estate” hosts Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden to talk about everything that happened behind the scenes, including how he got one of the local voters — who is now facing charges — to speak with him about his experience, and why he was sure he was allowed to cast his ballot, only to end up in trouble with the law.
Listen to Florida’s Fourth Estate in the audio player below to learn more.