TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Two Dade City residents were accused of submitting fake ballot initiative signatures to Florida election officials.
On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) announced charges against George Edward Andrews III, 30, and Jamie L. Johnson, 47, related to their work as paid signature collectors.
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According to FDLE, officials with the Election Crimes Division began investigating the pair after they submitted 133 invalid petitions in Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Sumter counties for an abortion rights ballot initiative. The alleged fraudulent signatures didn’t make a dent in the measure’s overall count, which is approaching one million valid signatures, well exceeding the 891,523 required to qualify for the ballot.
Andrews and Johnson were charged with criminal use of personal identification information (10 counts) and signing another person’s name or a fictitious name to a petition (10 counts). Andrews was booked into the Hernando County Jail, but Johnson has yet to be arrested.