First case in DeSantis voter fraud crackdown ends with split verdict

A Florida man on Tuesday was acquitted on charges of illegally voting but convicted of lying on his voter registration application in a closely watched voter fraud case.

The split verdict in Hillsborough county was the first time a Florida jury weighed in on a case of one of the 19 people Ron DeSantis announced were being charged with voter fraud in August. Nearly all of the 19 have said they did not know they were ineligible to vote and believed they could do so because they received a voter registration card from the state.

Florida Republicans are also seeking expanded powers for the statewide prosecutor to charge people for it. Three of the 19 cases filed this summer have been dismissed because judges ruled that the statewide prosecutor did not have authority to bring the cases. But a new bill in the legislature would explicitly give the statewide prosecutor the power to do so.

Since 2019, Florida has allowed people with felonies to vote once they complete their sentence, unless they are convicted of murder or a sexual offense. Hart and the other 19 people charged all had prior crimes that fell into the latter two categories, but nearly all have said they did not know they were disqualified.

Prosecutors charged Hart with two different felonies, one for lying on the voter registration form, and another for voting knowing he was ineligible. The jury on Tuesday convicted him on the registration charge but acquitted him of illegally voting.

Michael Gottlieb, a Democratic state lawmaker who is representing one of the 19 other people charged, said that the illegal voting charge was easier to get an acquittal on.

Neil Volz, the deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, said the conviction highlighted the need for the state to improve its system for flagging ineligible voters and creating a reliable system for Florida voters.