PRESS RELEASES from Florida Democratic Party
September 28, 2012
FDP Statement on Florida GOP Voter Registration Fraud

Tallahassee, FL — Following the news today that at "least 10 counties have identified suspicious and possibly fraudulent voter registration forms turned in by a firm working for the Republican Party of Florida," the Florida Democratic Party issued the following statement: 

STATEMENT FROM FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SCOTT ARCENEAUX

"With each passing day, the depth of the Republican Party of Florida voter registration fraud scandal grows.  One thing is clear: Floridians have a right to know how many fraudulent voter registration applications have been turned in by the Republican Party of Florida. 

"Furthermore, it is clear that the Republican Party of Florida does not have the institutional controls in place to be trusted as a third party voter registration organization. Until such a time that an investigation is complete, the state should immediately revoke the Republican Party of Florida's third party voter registration license."

###


October 1, 2012
As GOP Forms Circular Firing Squad, FL Dems Renew Call to Revoke RPOF's Voter Reg. License

Tallahassee, FL — As Florida Republicans turn on each other, forming a circular firing squad as news of their voter fraud scandal escalates, the Florida Democratic Party issued the following statement, renewing the call for the State of Florida to revoke the Republican Party of Florida's 3rd Party Voter Registration License.   

STATEMENT FROM SCOTT ARCENEAUX, FL DEMS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

"In the words of former President Bill Clinton — it takes some brass for the Republican Party of Florida to complain about voter fraud, when they are the ones committing the fraud, and this scandal has revealed a level of hypocrisy which is rarely seen even by the tarnished standards of the Florida GOP.  As Florida Republicans and their field consultants turn on each other and lob accusations and counter-accusations, it is becoming increasing clear the RPOF lacks the institutional controls to be trusted as a third party voter registration organization, and we renew our call for the state to immediately revoke the Republican Party of Florida's third party voter registration license."

BACKGROUND

Florida Republicans and their consultants are turning on each other over their voter registration scandal. "It’s such a mess that the Republican Party of Florida has filed an elections complaint against the Strategic Allied Consulting, which then turned around and bashed…. The Republican Party of Florida." [Miami Herald, 9/30/12

Bloomberg: Republicans End Swing-State Voter Sign-Up After Firing Company. "The Republican National Committee ended efforts to sign up new voters before the deadline in key states for the presidential race because of questions raised over registration applications tied to the party. Republican parties in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia -- all states that both campaigns view as competitive -- fired Glen Allen, Virginia-based Strategic Allied Consulting, the company in charge of registrations, said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. The national committee also canceled its contract with the company, its only vendor signing up new voters, Kukowski said." [Bloomberg, 10/01/12

The GOP's voter fraud scandal has escalated to 10 counties. "At least 10 Florida counties have identified possibly fraudulent voter registration forms turned in by a firm working for the state's Republican Party, election officials said today." [USA Today, 9/29/12

The scandal has revealed the RPOF's blatant hypocrisy. "For the better part of two years now, Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Republican Party have been scouring the state like a sheriff and his posse, hot on the trail of election bandits. Turns out, our Republican gunslingers didn’t have far to look. The wily varmints corrupting Florida’s electoral process have been working right under their noses. Republican party operatives were running what appear to be a fraudulent voter registration activities in at least nine Florida counties (including Miami-Dade) and probably more. And they were doing it with party money." [Miami Herald, 9/29/12]

###


October 3, 2012

FL Dems Call for Answers from Republican Party of Florida as GOP's Voter Registration Scandal Escalates

FDLE: "Crimes were committed in filing of voter registration forms by GOP vendor"

Tallahassee, FL — Following breaking news that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has launched a formal criminal investigation into the Florida GOP's illegal third party voter registration activities, Florida Democrats today called on the Florida Republican Party to come clean about their involvement in this escalating scandal.  

"It is past time for Lenny Curry and the Republican Party of Florida to come clean about their involvement in this escalating scandal," said Scott Arceneaux, Florida Democratic Party Executive Director. "With the voter registration deadline fast approaching, the public has a right to know: what did the Republican Party of Florida know and when did it know it?  In light of the conflicting accounts that have emerged from the Republicans, Florida voters deserve to know what the RPOF knew about their consultant's nefarious and potentially illegal actives. Florida voters, election administrators and law enforcement officials need to know the facts. The Florida GOP owes the people of this state a clear explanation. If they refuse to come clean it is incumbent on the Division of Elections to investigate the RPOF."

This news comes on the heels of a Times/Herald story today detailing that Florida Republicans allegedly knew about their voter fraud controversy weeks earlier than they had originally claimed.

In conflicting accounts, the RPOF's voter registration firm Strategic Allied Consulting alleges that they "kept Florida Republicans informed once they were alerted of questionable registration forms…and fired the employee responsible on Sept. 18th." In contrast, Republicans claim they didn't hear about the flawed forms until a week later when notified by the Palm Beach Post.  Adding fuel to the scandal,  Lee County Voter Registration Director Cheryl Johnson revealed that she had notified Strategic Allied Consulting of separate questionable voter registration applications in a meeting on September 6th — 12 days before they learned about the irregular Palm Beach voter registration forms. 

New information has also been revealed about Strategic Allied checkered past — including the firm's President's history of questionable registration activity dating back to 2004 in Nevada, Oregon and Arizona. 

###