'Not just one or two' fake signatures: FDLE leading statewide investigation of voter petition fraud

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has taken the lead in investigating who is behind the illegal submittals of fraudulent signatures on pro-gambling petitions that have shown up at supervisors of elections offices across Northwest Florida and the state.

While the petition circulators who have turned in falsified signatures claim to represent a pro-casino gambling group called Florida Voters in Charge, a lawsuit filed in Leon County by lawyers representing Florida Voters in Charge alleges the Seminole Tribe of Florida "engaged in a scheme to purposefully submit invalid petitions to supervisors of election."

Supervisors of elections in Okaloosa, Walton, Escambia and Bay counties have all uncovered what they believe to be fraudulent signatures on petitions submitted by Florida Voters in Charge.

LuJuana Rinker, chief deputy in the Walton County Supervisor of Elections Office, said she had turned in "at least 50" invalid signatures to the FDLE.

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Among them, Rinker said, was the signature of a woman she attended church with who passed away in 2015. A home no longer stands at the address the petition circulator provided for the deceased woman.

"We had two or three more signatures of people who had died," Rinker said. "There were another 10 or 11 voters who are registered in Tallahassee that were given random Freeport addresses. One signature looked pretty close to that of the registered voter in Tallahassee, but they gave us the Freeport address and I found no evidence that voter had ever lived in Tallahassee."

Petition circulators are required under penalty of perjury to witness each signature they gather. Rinker said she turned in the names of "at least four" petition circulators who had submitted forms bearing suspicious signatures.

Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux said his office turned in nine suspicious petitions and the name of one petition circulator in January, but none since that time. Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford said in January his office had identified about a dozen fraudulent signatures. He could not be reached for comment by press time Monday.

Bay County Supervisor of Elections Mark Anderson did not want to pinpoint the number of suspicious signatures his office had received, but confirmed a batch had been submitted to the FDLE to be further investigated.

"It is there, and it's not just one or two," he said.

Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane said her office had been contacted by criminal investigators, but had not confirmed any invalid signatures.

Florida Voters in Charge was formed last May to gather voter signatures in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that, if passed, would allow for the conversion of Florida card rooms to Las Vegas-style casinos. The effort, which ended Feb. 1, was bankrolled by over $51 million in contributions, nearly all of it from Las Vegas Sands, a huge casino operation built by the late Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson and still run by his family.

In early December, supervisors of elections from six counties outside the Panhandle — Duval, Gulf, Pinellas, Marion, Brevard and Bradford — went to the Secretary of State's Office to complain about fraudulent constitutional initiative petitions received by their offices from signature collectors working for Florida Voters in Charge.

In a letter referring the complaint to the office of Attorney General Ashley Moody, counsel for the Secretary of State identified more than 1,800 falsified petitions in just three of the counties involved.

The Secretary of State's letter to the Attorney General included the names of 13 persons identified as having submitted petitions "suspected to be fraudulent."

In a return letter dated Jan. 21, Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard acknowledged "The serious nature of the allegations ... require full criminal investigation."

The Attorney General's Office directed the statewide prosecutor to work with FDLE and impacted state attorney's offices to coordinate investigative efforts and potential criminal filings.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretyl Plessinger said the state agency's investigation remains open and active.

"FDLE is providing investigative assistance to the 5th Judicial Circuit, and agents are receiving additional information from state attorneys and supervisors of elections throughout Florida," Plessinger said in a Monday email. "Agents continue to gather and review the additional information coming in."

Also in December, Florida Voters in Charge filed suit in Leon County against three individuals and four businesses or political committees alleging that they had all been funded by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to subvert the pro-gambling initiative, which could cut in on tribe casino profits.

The Secretary of State's Office was later added to the list of entities being sued by Florida Voters in Charge.

"A large number of invalid petitions, i.e. petitions which contain signatures that do not match the records of supervisors of elections, have been submitted to (Florida Voters in Charge), and in turn to supervisors of election by a limited number of petition circulators," the lawsuit said.

Florida Voters in Charge "discovered that the petition circulators at issue were previously employed by and are believed to continue to be employed by, or are acting under the direction of, the defendants," it said.

The lawsuit charges the agents of the Seminole Tribe of Florida with interfering with business and contractual relationships.

It claims the tribe and its agents have tried to skew the number of petition signatures gathered, portray Florida Voters in Charge in a bad light and cause the organization to "needlessly spend money by paying petition circulators who are not actually attempting to collect valid signatures."

A motion to dismiss the lawsuit accuses Florida Voters in Charge with attempting "to prevent the (Seminole Tribe) from lawful hiring practices that support First Amendment free speech."

The lawsuit, which Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said was rife with "ridiculous claims with no basis in truth" was withdrawn in late January.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: FDLE leading investigation of pro-gambling voter petition fraud