A Republican state attorney last May declined to prosecute six voter fraud cases that involved circumstances strikingly similar to the cases later brought against 20 ex-felons by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election police unit and statewide prosecutors. Via the Orlando Sentinel:
The office of State Attorney Bill Gladson, whose district includes The Villages and five Republican counties, confirmed six convicted sex offenders in Lake County had voted in the 2020 general election, according to a determination letter obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
Gladson and his staff concluded, however, that the cases could not be prosecuted because the fraud was not willful — a rationale that attorneys say applies equally to many of the voter fraud cases currently being pursued by the Office of Statewide Prosecution.
In the year since the letter was written by a supervisor in Gladson’s office, no ex-felons in that circuit, including the six sex offenders, have been arrested for illegally voting, a felony charge punishable by $5,000 and up to 5 years in prison.
See if you can guess the difference!
Roger Weeden, a lawyer representing two people who were arrested by DeSantis’ election police, said it seems that sex offenders in Lake County have been given a pass while those in majority Democrat counties were not.
“I’m offended,” he said. “The people are similarly situated, and there is no factual way to differentiate between the cases and yet some people are being prosecuted under the same factual scenario and others are not.”
