Feb 4, 2022
Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into reports of voter disenfranchisement in Miami-Dade County. Local 10 News reported that multiple registered Democrats living in retirement homes were outraged to learn that their registration affiliation had been changed to Republican without their consent.
“As a member of the Florida Cabinet, I take these reports of election interference and voter disenfranchisement extremely seriously. I am especially concerned about the civil rights implications of this reported disenfranchisement because the victims are elderly, low income, and many do not speak English. I request that the Department of Justice immediately begin an investigation into these reports,” Commissioner Fried wrote in a letter to DOJ on Friday.
Full text of the letter can be found below.
Attorney General Merrick Garland
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
February 4, 2022
Attorney General Garland:
I am writing to express my concern about recent reports of Florida residents experiencing changes to their voter registration party affiliations without their knowledge.
The reports indicate that multiple registered Democrats living in retirement homes in Miami-Dade County were outraged to learn that their registration affiliation had been changed to Republican without their consent after interacting with third-party voter registration representatives working on behalf of the Republican Party of Florida. All of the victims were aged 65 or older.
As a member of the Florida Cabinet, I take these reports of election interference and voter disenfranchisement extremely seriously. I am especially concerned about the civil rights implications of this reported disenfranchisement because the victims are elderly, low income, and many do not speak English. I request that the Department of Justice immediately begin an investigation into these reports.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Nicole Fried
Commissioner of Agriculture
