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Pasco supervisor of elections warns: Vote twice, you may go to jail

Updated  September 8, 2020 10:15pm EDT
2020 Election
FOX 13 News

Supervisor of elections explains warning

Evan Axelbank reports

DADE CITY, Fla. - Voting twice is committing a felony -- that’s the warning from Pasco County’s supervisor of elections.

Citing “recent media coverage of the president,” Brian Corley on Tuesday discouraged voters from “testing” the system by sending mail-in ballots, then showing up at the polls and casting an in-person ballot on Election Day.

Voting twice violates state and federal laws, he warned.

"While we all want to ensure the integrity of any election, voters need to be aware that per Florida law, any voter who willfully votes or attempts to vote both in person and by mail is committing a felony and will be referred to the State Attorney's Office for prosecution," Corley said.

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President Trump made several comments recently that have been interpreted by some as suggestions that supporters vote twice as a way to test the integrity of their state’s voting system. Trump later said he was simply encouraging mail-in voters to be sure their vote was counted.

Corley addressed that, too, discouraging voters from showing up at the polls just to confirm that their mail-in vote was received. He said it was “neither appropriate nor necessary,” and warned it would cause unnecessary delays for those in line to cast a ballot.

Instead, Corley said mail-in voters can use the county’s online tracker to get updates on the status of their ballot, even getting text alerts to their phone if they prefer.

LINK: www.pascovotes.gov/TrackYourBallot

“Comments or statements that call into question the integrity of our well- established and transparent election administration processes and procedures only erodes voter confidence and continues polarization at a time when confidence in the process is sorely needed,” Corley added. “Ironically, eroding voter confidence and polarizing the electorate was the goal of nefarious Russian state actors in 2016 as documented in the unanimous and bipartisan reports of both the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Volume I of the Mueller Report.”