Cheryl Hall, 63, was employed by 'Florida First' to collect voter registrations, which seems to be a subsidiary group from 'America First Policies', a national group closely related to the Trump administration. Naturally, questions are being raised, whether this was a rogue operator or is part of a more widespread practice. You don't need a tinfoil hat to suspect the worst here, do you?
Source: Associated Press
CLERMONT, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida woman is accused of submitting false voter registration information that switched the party affiliations of voters without their knowledge, sheriff's investigators said.
Cheryl A. Hall, 63, who worked for an organization that helps register voters, turned herself in to Lake County Sheriff's officials Thursday, according to court records. She's charged with 10 felony counts of submission of false voter registration information.
A day earlier Lake County officials had announced that 119 false voter registration applications had been filed, news outlets reported.
Hall submitted the forms to the Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office, authorities said. Elections officials flagged the forms because they included incorrect information, including birth dates, Social Security numbers or driver's license numbers.
Some of the forms changed the registrations of Democrats or no party affiliation to Republican, officials said.
Sheriff's investigators said all 119 false forms were assigned to Hall, a registered Republican, to collect. She worked for Florida First's office in Winter Haven. The agency said in an emailed statement that it is working closely with elections officials to "ensure every voter is properly registered to vote."
The Miami Herald , among others, are now investigating whether this is widespread and deliberate.
The allegations against Florida First come just days before the state’s March 17 presidential primary and amid an aggressive push by both Republicans and Democrats to sign up new voters ahead of the 2020 election.
Florida First, which registered with the Florida Division of Elections in August as a third-party voter registration organization, has been working with America First Policies, a social welfare organization founded by some of President Donald Trump’s top advisers. Kelly Sadler, an America First spokeswoman, said the organization is a “contributor” to Florida First but could not comment on behalf of the organization.
In August, when the Miami Herald asked if America First was registering voters in the state through Florida First, Sadler responded, “That’s us!”
