Activists fight for Marsha Ervin, 69, after she’s accused of voter fraud

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump called Ervin’s arrest voter intimidation, referring to all the other persons arrested around Florida due to eligibility confusion, most of whom are Black.

Activists are rallying behind a 69-year-old Florida woman arrested on allegations of voter fraud.

Tallahassee Police Department officers arrested Marsha Ervin around 3 a.m. in late September. On Tuesday, local officials, civil rights activists and voting rights organizers joined the elderly woman and her attorneys at the Leon County Courthouse as they advocated for her, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

“When she woke up, she was completely surprised that they were telling her they had warrants for her arrest,” said Tallahassee NAACP President Mutaqee Akbar, an attorney representing Ervin. “She was reliving a nightmare that she had lived five years ago because she voted.”

Ervin was convicted in 2016 of aggravated neglect of an elderly person and released from jail in 2018. Her probation, rendering her unable to vote, was set to expire next month. However, she voted twice, assuming she was allowed to do so.

The individuals gathered at the courthouse Tuesday, including renowned civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, also representing Ervin, called on the state attorney’s office, headed by Jack Campbell, to dismiss the case.

They labeled Ervin’s arrest voter intimidation, referring to all the other persons arrested around the state of Florida due to eligibility confusion. Most of those arrested, like Ervin, are Black.

“Ms. Ervin did not have the intent to commit an unlawful act,” said Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor. “I believe intent is an element here.”

According to public data from the Leon County Supervisors of Elections, Ervin registered to vote in 2002 but was removed from the list in 2017 due to the felony conviction.

Despite this, court documents show she registered to vote as a Democrat in 2020 and received a voter registration card from the government. She went on to vote in both the general election that year and the 2022 primary election.

Last year, she told a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigator she was told she could vote following her prison release, and local news broadcasts indicated felons could do so. However, the investigator discovered documentation from the Florida Department of Corrections demonstrating the jail did not give her information indicating whether she could vote.

Ervin’s case was forwarded to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ newly formed Office of Election Crimes and Security, which executed the arrest warrant.

Individuals at the press conference Tuesday encouraged the state to develop a checkbox for Floridians previously convicted of felonies attempting to register to vote. They said doing so would offer further eligibility checking without any legal ramifications in case of mistakes.

They also suggested the state develop a mechanism allowing voters to determine their eligibility quickly.

Ervin’s prison stint dates back to when she was the primary caregiver for her then-86-year-old mother, Gloria Bourgeois, who she told authorities refused to consult a doctor because of her religious views.

Court records show Bourgeois had decaying flesh and multiple sores, one the size of a basketball. She died weeks later, in 2015, after she began bleeding from her ulcers.

On Tuesday, DeSantis’ press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, dodged questions on the fix recommended by attorneys and advocates, instead pointing to elements in the police report, such as maggots on Bourgeois’ body and chair.

“This a mere distraction trying to make us not focus on this being about voter intimidation,” said Crump. “We’re talking about this issue. She wasn’t arrested for those things. She was arrested for alleged voter fraud.”

Ervin is the first Leon County resident jailed over apparent voter eligibility uncertainty. DeSantis announced a wave of arrests before the 2022 midterm elections for anyone who voted despite prior murder or sexual crimes. The majority of individuals detained were Black, given voter registration cards and stated that they believed they were entitled to vote.

The confusion stems from 2018 when voters supported Amendment 4, which sought to restore voting rights to 1.4 million persons disqualified due to prior criminal convictions.

Months later, the Legislature enacted, and DeSantis signed legislation barring hundreds of thousands of felons from voting unless they fulfilled their previous legal financial responsibilities.

The amendment never permitted individuals convicted on felony murder and sex charges or on felony probation to vote, confusing people as to how the laws relate to them.

“For this to happen to her, what it really tells you [is] it can happen to any of us,” said Crump. “This is about instilling fear in people in our community, to say, ‘Well, I don’t want to get in any trouble, so I’m not going to come and vote.’ Well, we have a news flash to all the enemies of equality: We will not give.”

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