Marianna woman charged with submitting fraudulent petition signatures
A Marianna woman has been arrested for allegedly using personal identification information of five unknowing people for a constitutional petition.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents arrested Kattie McCalister, 60, on Thursday on five felony counts of false swearing, submission of false voter information and five misdemeanor counts of perjury when not in an official proceeding, according to a Friday FDLE press release.
She was booked into the Jackson County Jail.
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The petition was for “limited authorization of casino gambling,” according to her arrest affidavit.
That petition was to allow businesses with active cardroom licenses to offer casino gaming if they’re within 130 miles of a Seminole tribal casino or they spent $250 million on development and construction costs, according to Ballotpedia.
It did not get enough signatures to appear on Florida's 2022 ballot.
Agents interviewed five people who had filed complaints against McCalister following notification from the Jackson County Supervisor of Elections Office that their personal voter information “may have been compromised,” according to the press release. They said they had never met McCalister, had never seen the petition and had not signed the petition.
McCalister was employed as a petition circulator for a company called Victory Labs Inc., according to the affidavit. She had been paid approximately $7,193 between November 2021 and January 2022.
USA Today Network-Florida government accountability reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com. Twitter: @DouglasSoule
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Marianna woman accused of submitting fraudulent amendment signatures
