FDLE completes Alachua County elections office jail visit probe, 10th inmate charged

A report released Monday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office’s practice of mass registering of jail inmates “could compromise the integrity of the Florida Voter Registration System.”

The investigation, which led to 10 people being charged with felony election-related crimes, stems from a series of complaints filed by a Gainesville database researcher and programmer who says he found thousands of people across the state who registered or voted illegally.

In Alachua County alone, researcher Mark Glaeser has identified about 100 people — many of whom were incarcerated at the time — who he believes voted illegally.

At least 10 of the initially 34 inmates named by Glaeser had prior felony convictions and registered to vote and/or voted while incarcerated at the Alachua County Jail in July 2020 in connection with a voter drive held by the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office, the report states.

Last week, Glaeser notified Barton's office of nine sex offenders who also voted in the election, none of whom have been charged at this time.

While the office normally visits the jail to help inmates with voting and voter education, the investigation states that the office "deviated from the typical jail procedures" to speak with inmates about voting compared to past years.

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FDLE Special Agent Tracey Rousseau's investigation reveals that instead of holding seminars at the jail like other third-party organizations to educate inmates on information that may be beneficial to them upon their release, then-elections office outreach director Thomas “TJ” Pyche would arrange visits to each of the jail’s housing units — including units with medium-maximum security inmates.

Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton, who held the outreach title for about 10 years prior to being elected in 2017, told investigators that she would only leave educational materials and paperwork at the front desk to be posted throughout the facility.

As his boss, Barton was aware of Pyche’s methods and did not find fault in his conduct nor advised him to make any adjustments, the investigation found.

"Once we tell them what the law is and they say, ‘Oh, I’m fine, I can register to vote,’ I cannot tell them they cannot register to vote," Barton said Monday afternoon. "They’re the ones who are signing the oath on the form.

“We’re following the statute of how we process voter registration applications.”

Darry Lloyd, the deputy chief investigator for the state attorney's office, made clear that only the current and former inmates will be charged in the investigation.

"There’s no one at the Supervisor of Elections Office that will be charged in connection with that investigation," he said.

Jail worker Sgt. Patricia Flynn accompanied Pyche during multiple visits at the jail and said she heard him on “several occasions” explain the voting laws regarding convicted felons and changes with Amendment 4 and that he stated very clearly that inmates should speak with their attorneys to determine if they are eligible to vote.

"He would state 'I’m not familiar with you or your history. If you have questions on your eligibility I suggest you contact your attorney,'" Flynn says in the report.

They avoided units she considered to "be a waste of time" due to inmates having felony convictions.

"Flynn stated Pyche told the inmates if they had outstanding court costs or probation related to a felony conviction, they would not be eligible to vote. She never heard Pyche encourage the inmates to register or vote if they had prior felony convictions or outstanding court costs," the report adds.

Ron Kozlowski, Pyche's attorney, said his client was simply doing his job to educate potential voters and that the investigation's findings show there was no wrongdoing on his end.

"He followed the practices of the supervisor’s office and they are the same practices from my understanding that the supervisor’s office has been following for some time," the attorney said. "Any suggestion that he did anything criminal is certainly put to rest by the fact that the state attorney has charged voters who did break the law. ... Any suggestion that there’s something nefarious here is way off base and is being promoted by people who have an agenda. And I don’t know exactly what that agenda is but clearly the agenda is not the same as the supervisor’s office, which is to get information to people and get potential voters registered."

Another jail worker, retired Lt. Lawrence Certain, recalled escorting Pyche at the jail a couple of times during an election year prior to Amendment 4 passing. He recalled Pyche informing inmates about the upcoming elections, that they could possibly vote in, and mentioning the requirements for eligibility, as well as speaking about the process and answering questions from inmates.

Certain said he never heard Pyche tell the inmates to consult with their attorneys regarding voting eligibility, and he and the inmates were under the impression that the elections office would check their eligibility.

That's because the requirements to vote back then were different.

Amendment 4, which took effect in 2019, was passed by nearly two-thirds of Florida voters but brought widespread confusion following subsequent changes from Republicans.

The ballot measure was supposed to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions, except those convicted of murder or sexual offenses, who had completed their sentences. Republican lawmakers passed a bill requiring that a convicted felon's fees, court costs and restitution be paid before their voting rights are fully restored, which many counties don't even track or have sold debt off to collections agencies.

"You have people who still think, 'Yes, I registered when Amendment 4 took place,' but they're not aware of the changes," Barton said. "There's so much confusion behind the whole thing, and there's not one clearinghouse where someone can go and find out if they have outstanding fees and fines."

Florida lawmakers recently passed a bill earlier this month that would create an investigative unit for alleged voting crimes — the second such bill passed over the last two years following the 2020 presidential election. Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the most recent bill, which also would require voter rolls to be updated more regularly, and increase penalties for election-related offenses.

Based on interviews with 10 inmates, nine of whom have been charged with voting crimes, FDLE concluded that while each inmate is expected to know their own personal circumstances, the inmates “were told or believed they were able to legally register and/or vote.”

"There are clear violations of Florida State Statutes by the inmates who completed registration forms with affirming they were not convicted felons when, in fact, they were; and subsequently cast a ballot in the Florida elections," the investigation found.

Rousseau wrote in his report that "the investigation revealed, and by his (Pyche’s) own admission, the education component of his jail visits was lacking both quality and longevity."

Those interviewed in the FDLE report who face charges of providing false voter registration information and illegal voting include Therris Lee Conney Jr., 33; Arthur Leonard Lang, 43; Kelvin Bolton, 55; Daniel Dion Roberts, 48; John Boyd Rivers, 54; Leroy James Ross Jr., 63; and Christopher Timothy Wiggins 53. Xavier Lavell Kevon Artis, 22, and Henry Thomas Shuler III, 38, are charged with providing false voter registration information.

While no interview was conducted, Rousseau also discovered through the investigation that Dedrick Baldwin Sr., who has been a convicted felon since 1995, voted in the 2020 primary and general elections. Baldwin faces charges of providing false voter registration information and illegal voting.

Rousseau determined "there were clear violations of Florida statutes by the inmates who completed registration forms with affirming they were not convicted felons when, in fact, they were, and subsequently cast a ballot."

Barton said she plans to continue outreach at the jail, but will tweak the procedure process.

"I’ll be working closely with the sheriff," she said. "I don’t segment a particular group and treat them differently than anyone else. It is our mission and our mandate to educate, first and foremost, potential eligible citizens to vote."

Barton also said her office is now working closely with Alachua County Clerk of Courts Jess Irby to help identify convicted felons that may be ineligible to vote.

“Everyone has due process," she said. "We have to notify them that we have the information, we have to provide the information to them and give them time to answer it."

If all 10 are proven to have committed an elections crime, the number of individuals charged would not have swayed any of the major races in the 2020 election. Glaeser, however, says the few charged only scratch the surface.

"The fact these people were not flagged by the supervisor of elections or state highlights the problem that there is no system to flag the individuals," Dan Smith, a political scientist at the University of Florida, told The Sun in a previous interview. "This is a system designed to fail in which individuals may be making an honest mistake and are now facing felony charges."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FDLE ends Alachua County SOE jail visit probe, 10th inmate charged