Polk County commissioner candidate faces charge of falsifying election forms
Booking image for Martin Grenfell (Polk County Sheriff's Office)
BARTOW, Fla. - A candidate for Polk County Commission has been accused of lying on his election documents.
Polk County detectives arrested 56-year-old Martin Grenfell, who faces a third-degree felony for allegedly falsifying voter registrations. In 2013, he was convicted in federal court of trafficking counterfeit labels.
Investigators said he filled out forms with the Polk Elections Office to run for county commission, and on the form he signed that he swore he was qualified to hold office. However, officials said, he lost his right to run for office when he was convicted.
According to a news release from the sheriff's office, "By signing the Oath, Grenfell attested that he is qualified to hold office under the Constitution and the Laws of Florida which includes the prohibition against holding an elected office by a convicted felon."
"You expect your elected officials to be honest, to be ethical, to be moral," said Sheriff Grady Judd. "Certainly, that's what we want out of them. Some of them fall short of that. This guy, he didn't even get out of the paperwork process before he was operating in violation of the law."
Convicted felons in Florida can have their voting rights restored, and can ask for clemency from the governor. Grenfell will be eligible to apply for clemency in 2021, detectives said.