3 residents of The Villages arrested for casting multiple votes in 2020 election
SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – Three residents of The Villages have recently been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into voter fraud, court records show.
Jay Ketcik, Joan Halstead and John Rider are each charged with casting more than one ballot in an election, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The probe into the allegations of voting irregularities was initiated by the office of Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Bill Keen, according to prosecutors. Keen declined to comment about the cases, citing the ongoing investigation.
Ketcik, 63, is accused of voting by mail in Florida in October 2020 while also casting an absentee ballot in his original home state of Michigan, court records show.
Halstead, 71, voted in-person in Florida but also cast an absentee ballot in New York, prosecutors allege.
Ketcik and Halstead turned themselves in to the Sumter County jail on outstanding warrants, court records show.
Rider, 61, was arrested by Brevard County deputies at the Royal Caribbean cruise ship terminal at Port Canaveral on Dec. 3, according to court records. Details of the accusations against him were not immediately available, but prosecutors indicated he also cast ballots both out-of-state and in Florida.
Ketcik, Halstead and Rider could not be immediately reached for comment. There is no indication from court records that they know each other.
Court records also do not reveal which candidates they cast votes for in the 2020 general election.
All three are registered as Republicans in Florida, voter registration records show.
Facebook pages that appear to belong to Ketcik and Halstead contain several posts expressing support for former president Donald Trump.
“Multiple voting is unlawful,” said Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Governor Ron DeSantis. “It isn’t a crime to be registered to vote in more than one state, as long as you only vote in one.”
Pushaw noted that in 2019 Florida joined the Electronic Registration Information Center, a nonprofit organization that helps states improve the accuracy of voter rolls.
“By joining ERIC, Florida gained the ability to crosscheck voter registration data with 30 other member states in order to identify duplicate registrations and outdated records from voters who have moved or passed away, leading to cleaner and more accurate voter registration rolls,” Pushaw said. “Though the system is not perfect, it does help ensure election integrity and deter potential fraud.”
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