Florida’s Voter Fraud Dragnet Caused Confusion, Body Camera Videos Show

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/us/florida-voter-fraud-arrests-video.html

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Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida announced in August “a first salvo” in what he called a long-overdue crackdown on voting crimes.

But newly released body camera footage indicates that people arrested on charges of voting illegally seemed puzzled and appeared to have run afoul of the law through confusion rather than intent. The arrests targeted people convicted of felonies, a group that includes many former inmates who had voting rights restored in a process that left many others uncertain or misinformed about their eligibility to vote.

In the videos that were obtained on Wednesday by The New York Times from the Tampa Police Department, those arrested repeatedly told officers that they were blindsided by the charges and had previously been cleared to vote by election officials. The videos were published earlier by The Tampa Bay Times.

In one of the videos, Tony Patterson, 43, was standing outside of his Tampa residence when officers approached him on Aug. 18 to tell him that they had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

“For what?” Mr. Patterson asked the officers, who explained that he was not eligible to vote as a convicted sex offender and was being charged with two felonies for voting illegally.

“What is wrong with this state, man?” Mr. Patterson said. “You all put me in jail for something I didn’t know nothing about. Why would you all let me vote if I wasn’t able to vote?”

In another video, Romona Oliver, 56, was backing out of her driveway on the morning of Aug. 18 when officers confronted her and told her to get out of her vehicle because they had a warrant for her arrest.

“Oh my God,” Ms. Oliver said when one of the officers told her that she was being charged with voter fraud.

Byron Smith, 65, was similarly confused when officers arrived at his home, also on Aug. 18.

“What’s this about?” Mr. Smith said.