SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A Winter Springs man has been arrested after an amendment on Florida’s ballots last year failed to pass, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
In a news release, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier identified the man as Alexander Dean Francis, 33, who state officials said was a paid petition circulator gathering signatures for Amendment 3.
Investigators said that Francis submitted hundreds of fraudulent petitions to Supervisor of Elections offices across the state, including several in Flagler County, where he was eventually caught on Thursday.
At least 35 of the victims — many over 60 years old — reported that their personal information had been stolen and used without their knowledge or consent, the release states.
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“Targeting seniors and exploiting their identities to commit voter fraud and change our state’s constitution is abhorrent and an affront to our republican form of government,” Uthmeier said. “My office will continue to hold petition fraudsters accountable and protect the sanctity of the Florida Constitution.”
Now, Francis faces charges of criminal use of personal identification information and 37 counts of using personal identification of a victim over 60 years of age. He is held on bond at $210,000.
If convicted on all counts, Francis faces up to 585 years in prison.
Amendment 3 was a proposal on last year’s election ballots that would have enshrined in the state’s constitution a right for adults in the state to use recreational marijuana for personal use.
The proposal needed to garner at least 60% approval from voters, though the amendment ultimately fell shy of that figure.