Voter Registration Fraud Alleged in Miami

MIAMI — Prosecutors accused a voter registration canvasser on Thursday with creating a fake registration for a man who wasn't an American citizen just weeks ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

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Manuel Alejandro Angulo Barrientos, a $15-per-hour canvasser, was arrested and charged with one count of False Swearing, which is a third-degree felony in Florida.

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“Our election process is too important to our democracy to allow anyone to tamper with it,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in announcing the charge. “Our Public Corruption Task Force was designed to thwart efforts to shortcut or undermine honest elections in this community.”

In January, President Trump called for an investigation into his claims that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election.

"I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time)," the president tweeted. "Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Florida and its 29 electoral votes played a pivotal role in President Trump's election.

A copy of the fake registration form, which was reviewed by Patch, appeared to leave blank the question that pertained to party affiliation. Arrest documents reveal that Barrientos did not appear to have a financial motive for submitting a fake registration application. He was paid a flat hourly rate that was not based on a quota or financial incentive.

Arrest documents also state that Barrientos admitted to "completing and signing registration applications on behalf of 14 additional people." The documents said that Barrientos would "routinely lie" on his log sheet about where he met the people he claimed to register.

Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, told Patch that the case appears to be isolated though there have been similar cases in the past.

"There is no broad investigation ongoing into this," he said. "This was an individual circumstance brought to our attention."

In October, Rundle's office charged two people in connection with election-related violations. In 2009, 11 people hired to register potential voters in Miami-Dade County ahead of the 2008 presidential election were accused of falsifying hundreds of voter registration cards.

The Miami case announced on Thursday was the result of a joint investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the Miami Police Department’s contingent of the State Attorney’s Multi-Agency Public Corruption Task Force.

According to prosecutors, Barrientos worked as a voter registration canvasser from Sept. 16, 2016 to Sept. 28 when he resigned. He worked for GRSG Company, a non-partisan, third-party voter registration organization that collects voter registration applications.

"Angulo Barrientos’ job was to go to busy public areas, such as grocery stores or shopping malls, and approach people about registering to vote," prosecutors said. "Allegedly, Angulo Barrientos completed and signed a registration application in the name of Nelson Alles, allegedly knowing that Alles was not a citizen of the United States, and allegedly without Alles’ agreement or consent."

Prosecutors said that Barrientos' employer discovered the discrepancy after contacting the registrant as part of its own internal verification system.

"Based on the information they compiled, GRSG communicated with the Miami-Dade Department of Elections concerning their suspicions about the validity of the Alles' voter registration application," according to prosecutors. "As is the normal procedure in such matters, the Department of Elections contacted the State Attorney’s Multi-Agency Public Corruption Task Force which immediately initiated a criminal investigation."

Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons