In Florida, a fake voter guide spurs accusations of dirty tricks
The bogus voter guide appeared just before the GOP primary in St. John's County.
August 18, 2024, 6:01 AM ET
• 11 min read
Does America trust our election process after 2020?According to a poll, 38% of Americans don’t believe Joe Biden was legitimately elected president. What does that mean in 2024?Gianfranco Vivi/Getty Images
There's a political storm brewing on Florida's Atlantic Coast, just outside of Jacksonville.
A voter guide falsely purporting to show a slate of endorsements by the local Republican party hit mailboxes in St. John's County, sowing confusion just as the primary was about to kick off this month.
The latest salvo in what many say is already an overheated election cycle, the incident has brought attention to an intra-party slugfest being waged inside the local GOP, amid a fight for the future of how and how fast development should proceed in the area around historic St. Augustine.
"I saw the card, and I'm like, this is a real issue," St. John's County GOP Chair Denver Cook told ABC News. "I was in shock. I'm dealing with one of probably the most flagrant frauds on voters – the day before early voting. It became an instant train wreck."
On the eve of the first ballots being cast last Friday, as the mysterious mailers began spreading, Cook said his phone began blowing up with perplexed messages.
According to Cook, the glossy handout had a thickness, color scheme and font like the official voter guides put out by the local Republican party in June. And though it purported to be the "official 2024 membership-approved endorsements" of the county Republican party, it had a very different list of candidates from the ones the party had announced support for.
The new mailers also lacked any legal disclaimers explaining who paid for them, Cook said. And in pictures of the envelope that one of the fake mailers came in, which were reviewed by ABC News, the postmark was dated Aug. 7 – timed to arrive just in time for Aug. 10th's early voting.
St. Augustine, Florida. Gianfranco Vivi/Getty Images
Cook, who is also running for St. John's clerk of courts and comptroller, didn't know how widely the phony cards were sent, but one thing was clear: In this predominantly Republican area, whoever won the primary would likely be the victor in November.
"That's why there's such a fight," Diane Scherff, president of local political action committee "Trump Club of St. John's County" said.
"It is the battle for the soul of St John's County," said Scherff, whose PAC endorsed a list of candidates in the spring that bucks the local GOP's.
So, the urgent question: Where did this pamphlet come from?
'I wish I knew'
"I never thought anyone would go that far in the dirty trick universe," Cook told ABC News. "When we're talking about tight races, any illegal mailer like this claiming to be from the county party could alter elections."
Cook says he has asked law enforcement to investigate the fraudulent pamphlets – and that he would pursue legal action against those responsible.
"Whoever did this knows the rules," Cook said. "There's a level of sophistication to this that isn't cheap."
Florida's Republican party chairman, Evan Power, said in a statement that they "are taking this matter very seriously and are investigating."
"No Florida voter should be misled by anonymous, phony groups pretending to speak for the GOP," Power said.
Long before the mailers appeared, the St. John's primary had already stirred up bad blood over the question of who truly champions Republican policies and principles. At issue: the speed of local land development in one of the nation's fastest-growing and most influential areas, awash in campaign cash and high-dollar real estate deals….
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/story?id=112894420