JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The I-TEAM has uncovered new documents showing that the person who dropped off voter registration applications investigators found to be fraudulent was working on behalf of the Republican Party of Florida -- but not any more.
The information was revealed in a log of people the I-TEAM obtained from the Supervisor of Elections Office. It lists who dropped off voter registration applications for other people at the SOE’s office during the summer, when investigators say these crimes were reported.
About a month ago, Cytrice King says, she came home to find the card of an investigator from the State Attorney’s office.
“The guy was like, yeah, we’re doing an investigation on voter fraud. He was like, I think you (were) one of the people that was used on voter fraud,” King said.
She was skeptical, but then they sent her a voter registration application dated July 2.
“I’d seen that someone had actually used my name, my address, my date of birth -- actually signed my signature,” King said.
But other personal information was missing, and the signatures didn’t match.
Court records show King is one of dozens of people targeted in a voter fraud operation over the summer.
Jordan Daniels and Devin King, who is not related to Cytrice King, are charged with criminal use of personal information. They’re accused of trying to register more than 60 people to vote without their consent. The State Attorney’s Office says some of those people were dead.
The State Attorney’s Office said it appears Daniels and King were motivated by individual monetary gain rather than political purposes.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, elections staff noticed inconsistencies in a “large number” of applications turned in through a third party.
“But they didn’t know my mother’s maiden name and stuff like that,” Cytrice King said. “So they say that’s what set off a red flag.”
It’s lawful for third parties to conduct voter registration drives. When third parties submit other people’s voter registration applications, they must be registered and hand deliver them.
According to JSO, an elections official learned a woman named Jernise Mitchell had dropped of the suspicious applications.
News4JAX obtained the log that lists who dropped off third party voter registration applications this summer and for whom they were working. It shows Jernise Mitchell dropped off more than 600 applications in two batches this summer.
On July 2, it shows Mitchell dropped off 338 applications as a representative of the “Republican Party of FL.” Duval Dems was also written, but crossed out. Records show the ID number associated with the applications matches that of the Republican Party of Florida.
According to the log, Mitchell dropped another 300+ applications 10 days later, also with the ID code for the Republican Party of Florida.
The JSO report shows when the elections official questioned Mitchell about the suspicious applications, she said they were collected by her employees, Devin King and Jordan Daniels.
The I-TEAM has attempted to contact Mitchell multiple times. A request for comment has not been returned. Our request for Mitchell’s side of the story remains open.
A few weeks ago, an elections official told the I-TEAM that most of the applications were trying to register Democrats as Republicans. In Cytrice King’s case, no party was checked.
The state GOP looked into the case.
In a statement, the director of the Republican Party of Florida said: “Two employees of a subcontractor who were performing limited voter registration services in Duval County were discovered last summer to have acted inappropriately and against RPOF standards.”
According to the director, the employees were immediately fired by the subcontractor, and as soon as the party learned about the incident, it immediately terminated its relationship with the subcontractor.
The statement goes on to say, “The RPOF conducts its voter registration operations in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. Anyone failing to meet our high standards for voter registration is immediately terminated.”
Cytrice King said she’s glad she called the investigator who left their card.
It’s not clear how people’s information might have been compromised. The State Attorney’s Office said there could be more victims.
You can check your status on the Duval County Supervisor of Elections website to make sure everything is accurate.