Miami-Dade mayor: ‘No coincidence’ DeSantis announced voter arrests during election

Miami-Dade County’s senior Democrat, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, cited voter intimidation in Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing arrests of 20 people who voted in 2020 but were convicted of crimes that made them ineligible to cast ballots under Florida law.

“This moment was chosen, even though, probably, the state knew about it for a while,” Levine Cava said at a press conference with three Democrats she endorsed: gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Crist, Miami-Dade Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, and congressional District 27 contender Annette Taddeo. “I think it’s no coincidence we’re facing an election right now. We don’t want people to feel intimidated.”

READ MORE: ‘How did I commit fraud?’ Ex-felon voters confused by arrests, DeSantis’ announcement

Tuesday’s elections mostly involve partisan primaries, but some contests, including for Miami-Dade judges and commissioners, allow all voters to cast ballots.

Levine Cava said two Miami-Dade voters were arrested as part of the crackdown DeSantis, a Republican running for reelection, announced at a press conference Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.

While Florida law allows most people with felony convictions to have their voting rights restored if they have fulfilled their sentence and paid all restitution, fines and fees, the arrested voters were ineligible for a return to voting because they were convicted of homicides or sex offenses. Multiple arrested voters told the Miami Herald they registered to vote thinking the law allowed them to, and assumed they were free to cast ballots when their voter registration forms were approved.

Levine Cava said her administration determined there was no lapse at the county level.

Miami-Dade sends registration forms to the state for processing, Levine Cava said before voting at the Coral Reef Library early-voting site. “This is a matter of screening at the state level,” she said. “They must be behind, because it took them a while to figure out some of these people were not actually eligible to vote. These people in good faith filled out their registration form. Their paperwork was sent to Tallahassee.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 4:58 PM.