Florida's attorney general wants state Supreme Court to reject voter fraud fight
TALLAHASSEE — Attorney General Ashley Moody's office is urging the Florida Supreme Court to reject an appeal stemming from a high-profile move by state officials in 2022 to charge convicted felons with voter fraud.
Lawyers in Moody's office filed a brief Wednesday arguing the Supreme Court should decline to take up an appeal by Terry Hubbard, who was one of 20 convicted felons accused of registering and voting when ineligible.
Hubbard went to the Supreme Court in October after the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that charges against him should move forward.
The dispute centers on whether the statewide prosecutor's office had authority to file charges against Hubbard. A Broward County circuit judge dismissed the case because he said the alleged wrongdoing occurred in one judicial circuit and that the statewide prosecutor only had jurisdiction in cases involving multiple circuits.
But a panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal in July overturned that ruling, and the full appeals court later declined a request for a rehearing.
In the brief Wednesday, Moody's office argued, in part, that the statewide prosecutor had jurisdiction because the alleged voting crimes involved two judicial circuits. That is because Hubbard filled out voter-registration applications in Broward County and the information was transmitted to the Florida Department of State in Leon County. Broward County is in the 17th Judicial Circuit, while Leon County is in the 2nd Judicial Circuit.
"His conduct formed part of a broader transaction that crossed circuit lines: By registering to vote, he triggered governmental action in the Seventeenth and Second Judicial Circuits," the brief said. "By law, the Broward County Supervisor of Elections was required to transmit information from his voter-registration form to the secretary of state in Leon County, which then reviewed that information in Leon. Only then could Hubbard successfully vote in Broward. The Fourth District (Court of Appeal) therefore correctly found that Hubbard's actions 'occur[red] in both Broward and Leon County,' implicating two judicial circuits. No more is required."
In a Nov. 4 brief, Hubbard's attorneys disagreed with the state's argument and wrote that the Supreme Court should take up the issue because of other pending cases.
"Voting issues have been thrust into the public and political dialog over recent years," the Nov. 4 brief said. "By the very nature of the issue, legal resolution of voting matters inherently has widespread impact. Indeed, there are numerous cases on this very issue currently pending in various stages across the state of Florida. Therefore, resolution from this (Supreme) Court is necessary in this case to clarify specifically the extent to which the Office of the Statewide Prosecution has authority and discretion usurp the authority of the locally elected state attorney and to prosecute these cases."
In its decision, a majority of the appeals-court panel also cited a 2023 change in state law that allowed the statewide prosecutor to handle such cases and said that change should apply retroactively to Hubbard's prosecution.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials announced charges against the convicted felons in August 2022, less than three months before a general election that included DeSantis winning another term. DeSantis and other Republican leaders in recent years have made a major issue of trying to stop what they say is voter fraud, and the announcement of charges drew widespread attention.
Florida voters in 2018 approved a constitutional amendment aimed at restoring the rights of convicted felons who have completed terms of their sentences. The amendment did not apply to people with convictions for murder or sex offenses. The 4th District Court of Appeal ruling said Hubbard was convicted in 1989 of a sex offense.
