ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Conflicting voter guides are confusing Republican voters in St. Johns County.
The county’s GOP asked law enforcement to investigate fraudulent voter guides showing up in mailboxes.
The font and style look nearly identical.
The big difference, however, is that every endorsed candidate listed is different, and the fake one even includes some races the GOP didn’t endorse.
“It’s a shame, and the people suffer for it," said Senate Candidate Gerry James.
James was pleased to learn he earned the St. Johns County GOP endorsement for the Senate District 7 race.
However, that quickly turned to disappointment when he learned his name was not listed on a voter guide some Republicans in St. Johns County received in the mail.
It turns out, the GOP chair says that guide is a fake, with none of the names the party actually endorsed.
“To be quite honest, I really wasn’t that surprised," said James. "We have a very corrupted election system right now.”
“They’ve put both the sheriff’s race and the St. Johns County clerk of courts race on here," said St. Johns County GOP Chair Denver Cook. "Those weren’t even considered by the party for endorsement.”
Cook says the party printed 20,000 guides with the endorsements picked by members, which volunteers have gone door-to-door with to share with Republican voters.
Just in the past few days, he’s received dozens of calls and emails from confused voters who received the fake guide.
“Copyright infringement, potential mail fraud and voter fraud, at the eve of an election at the worst time for it to come," said Cook. "It’s the worst possible case of voter fraud that I’ve ever encountered.”
Cook says it’s fairly common to see activist groups send out endorsement lists, but his issue with the fake voter guide is that it claims to be from the Republican Party of St. Johns County.
He’s informed the state elections office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.
“After we find out who is behind it, we will take civil action if that’s the path we believe should be done," said Cook.
In the meantime, Cook is worried about what the fake guides will mean for the integrity of the election.
“Could result in a lawsuit from a candidate overturning the elections and having to be redone," said Cook. "This is a serious, serious issue.”
The easiest way to distinguish between these is that the GOP did not mail any of its guides, they handed them out over the past few weeks.
If you received one in the mail, it’s likely the fake, and the GOP wants you to let them know so they can keep track and use them as evidence during the investigation.