Florida Democrats Demand Investigation After Voters Complain Party Affiliations Were Changed to GOP

Since September, the Miami-Dade Department of Elections has received alerts warning of similar voter fraud.  Many of the victims are elderly, low income, and do not speak English .

After Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in November that the Florida GOP surpassed the Democratic Party in registered voters for the first time in state history, elderly residents of a public housing complex in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood claim their party affiliations were changed without their knowledge or consent.

According to the reports, people with clipboards and Republican Party of Florida caps were knocking on doors, offering to renew the residents’ voter registration. Instead, they allegedly changed the residents’ party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

Joining other state Democrats calling for an investigation, Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, immediately requested State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle that prosecutors investigate the allegations.

“Under the alleged guise of voter renewal efforts, canvassers entered the building and engaged with elderly residents, who claim they did not approve sudden changes to their party affiliation,” Levine Cava said in a memo to Fernandez-Rundle, adding that since September, the Miami-Dade Department of Elections has received alerts warning of similar voter fraud.  

State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running for governor against Republican Ron DeSantis, joined Levine Cava in the effort to investigate the allegations, asking the Department of Justice to look into the reports, and pointing out her concern that “the victims are elderly, low income, and many do not speak English.”

“The many calls my office has received from elderly in our community having their voter registration changed without their knowledge is truly unacceptable. I’ve now sent a letter to the @MDCElections Supervisor to formally investigate this matter”, Sen. Annette Taddeo, a Democrat who is also running to unseat DeSantis, wrote in a Tweet.

In response, Republican Party of Florida Executive Director Helen Aguirre Ferré said in a statement to the Miami Herald that “the Republican Party of Florida is working to register new voters and conducts its voter registration operations in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”