ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Republican Party (SJCRP) is looking for who’s responsible for sending out fake voter guides.
RELATED: Fake voter guides hit St. Johns County Republican voters’ mailboxes just before early voting
Denver Cook, the SJCRP chair explained the difference between the two voter guides.
“This is our real voter guide, you can see on the back side of it, we explain why we did, we have the required disclaimers on the bottom,” Cook said.
The real guide endorses eight candidates in the primary, and the fake one endorses eight different candidates.
Cook said the party was notified about the fake guides Friday when people received them in the mail.
“You can see that it was mailed from Jacksonville on Aug. 7 with a stamp and no return address,” Cook said.
Cook said they would have never mailed something from Jacksonville.
“We wouldn’t have mailed it from Jacksonville but additionally these cards aren’t prepared to be mailed,” Cook said. “There’s no way for us to put a stamp or an address on them. The other thing is we don’t have.”
Cook said the person or people responsible for doing this are wrong.
He also said this could negatively affect those they’ve endorsed by losing out on votes.
“I would call this beyond dirty politics,” Cook said. “Dirty politics you would see the hate mail that comes out on individuals or attack pieces that are fabricated that are based on a sliver of truth and blown up to be this whole thing. This is so far beyond that. This is outright fraud and criminal.”
Cook said he believes these fake voter guides were costly and done for a couple of reasons.
“The first one that comes to mind is to try and offset the work we’re doing for political gain for people they’re supporting,” Cook said. “The second is greed. I think when you look at trying to get certain people in certain positions that will vote in a way you need them to people want that.”
He also hopes the person or people who did this are punished.
“First of all I think the people need to be held accountable for this criminally and civilly,” Cook said. “And we as a party and chairman are going to pursue that as far as we can. The state party is already engaged as well.”
News4JAX reached out to the St. Johns County Democratic Party for a comment on this situation.
They released the statement below.
The St. Johns Democratic Party has had nothing to do with or knowledge of these events until today’s reporting. We don’t know of any organizations or individuals who do. It appears to be evidence of continued Republican infighting between the Trump club and the REC, who have been at odds for a long time over endorsements. We are saddened by the continued disregard of our country’s democracy here in Northeast Florida and the nation at large. Our Party does not endorse one Democrat over another in the primary process. We want the people to decide and then we will back that choice in the General Election. St. John’s Democratic Party is strongly united and focused on electing Democrats up and down the ballot. We welcome all Republicans and NPAs to join us in electing Kamala Harris as the next President of these United States.
Richard Finke, Chair of St. John's Democratic Party
Cook said if anyone has any of the fake voter guides you can contact them at 904-717-2016 or drop them off at their office at 3149 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard Suite 2, St. Augustine, FL 32084.