DeSantis announces 20 arrests over alleged illegal voting

What Florida announced

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Thursday that 20 people had been arrested in a statewide group of alleged illegal-voting cases. State officials said 16 defendants were foreign nationals accused of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship when registering and later casting ballots. The other four were felons accused of voting while on parole, which made them ineligible.

The allegations involve multiple counties and elections that included 2024 contests. The defendants are accused of participating despite signing voter-registration forms stating they were eligible.

How the cases were developed

The investigations began with referrals from the Florida Department of State and county election supervisors. Officials said federal database checks, conducted with help from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, confirmed that the 16 foreign nationals were not citizens. Uthmeier also credited state prosecutors and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their roles.

Officials said the defendants included nationals of Mexico, Jamaica, Chile, the Bahamas, Britain, Indonesia and Canada. The cases include a Tampa resident accused of registering in 2008 and later voting by mail, including in 2024. An Ocala resident is accused of registering twice, falsely listing a Florida birthplace and voting in person in October 2024.

Broader enforcement effort

DeSantis described the arrests as part of the state’s election-law enforcement work and announced the formation of an association for state and local election officials. Florida said the latest cases raised the number of election-fraud prosecutions to more than 100 since the state created its Election Crimes Office in 2022, with more than half initiated under Uthmeier’s leadership.