TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A woman in Texas has been arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for allegedly submitting a petition with a forged signature from a deceased voter, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
FDLE’s Office of Executive Investigations and the Elections Crime Unit said Alexandria Mary Beatrice Tatem was taken into custody for Perjury by False Written Declaration, a third-degree felony under Florida law.
According to the release, Tatem has been a registered Paid Petition Circulator (PPC) with the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections since 2019. Investigators said she submitted a petition for the Adult Personal Use of Marijuana, which was Amendment 3 on the November ballot.
However, FDLE said the petition claimed to have been signed by Amy Atkins. Authorities say Atkins passed away on January 10, 2024, prior to the date the petition was allegedly signed.
If convicted, Tatem could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, Uthmeier’s news release stated.
“We will not tolerate fraud, let alone fraud that undermines the integrity of Florida’s nation-leading election system or uses the names of deceased voters to change our state’s constitution,” Uthmeier said. “This arrest shows our commitment to upholding the law and protecting the sanctity of Florida’s elections. My office will continue to lead the charge against any form of voter fraud in Florida.”
News4JAX spoke with Political Analyst Rick Mullaney, who said this is a serious accusation and one not seen often.
“In my experience, it’s pretty rare,” he said. “And that’s a fortunate thing, I mean, you could say it’s rare because it never happens, [or] you could say it’s because it doesn’t get detected. I do think in my experience, I have not seen this kind of charge very often.”
Mullaney said the ballot-initiative process has been a priority for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and that this arrest sends a clear message.
“First, uniformly, everyone will criticize and condemn the action of this individual if, in fact, this turns out to be true,” Mullaney said. “The second, I do think it’s going to cause a lot of people to be far more careful in this process, and I think you’re going to see scrutiny.”
In the last legislative cycle, DeSantis put an emphasis on tightening the ballot-initiative process, which came to fruition when lawmakers passed a bill in May pausing petition verification between July 1 and Sept. 30.
It also prohibits a person from collecting signatures if they do not live in the state of Florida, but that is currently being challenged in court.
