Florida investigates GOP-backed voter registration consulting firm
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| Talahassee
Authorities in聽聽opened a criminal probe on Wednesday into the activities of聽, the firm hired by the Republican Party to register new voters in the crucial swing state ahead of next month's presidential election.
罢丑别听聽said there was enough evidence to warrant a full-blown investigation of Strategic Allied, a聽-based voter registration company doing work for the聽聽and the聽.
罢丑别听聽on Friday forwarded a complaint to the law enforcement agency after reports of suspicious voter registration forms linked to the company first surfaced in聽.
Both the聽听补苍诲听听辞蹿听聽cut ties with the company as soon as the allegations surfaced last week, and the number of聽聽counties reporting suspicious registration forms connected to Strategic Allied Consulting has since grown to at least 10.
Most political analysts say聽, the fourth most populous US state and notorious for its close elections, including the 2000 cliff-hanger that put聽聽in the聽, is a must-win for Republican challenger Mitt Romney in November's presidential sweepstakes.
Of all the closely contested battleground states in the presidential election,听聽is the biggest prize with 29 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to win.
"After reviewing this complaint, FDLE has decided that a criminal investigation into these allegations is warranted," said聽聽(FDLE) spokeswoman聽聽in an email. "This is now an active investigation."
罢丑别听聽also sent an e-mail to the state's 67 county supervisors of elections late on Tuesday instructing them to review all the voter registration forms filed by the聽.
"At some point, these registrations may become evidence used in court, so it is important for you to take steps to protect them from tampering," the email said.
The work required by the criminal probe may strain the resources of county election officials who are already receiving thousands of absentee ballots and must prepare for a deluge of voters on Nov. 6.
Federal Election Commission reports from the state聽聽show it paid Strategic Allied more than $1.3 million this summer for voter registration services.
The firm was also hired to do voter registration work for the party in four other key swing states -聽,听,, and聽聽- for a total of $2.9 million, according to the聽.
In a statement late last week, Strategic Allied criticized "likely libelous comments" by the聽about its efforts in the state amid allegations of voter fraud.
The company was formed in June by聽, a conservative聽聽political consultant and a former executive director of the state's聽.
Alarm over potential voter registration fraud in聽聽in the run-up to the Nov. 6 election was first raised by聽Beach County Elections Supervisor聽, who flagged 106 "questionable" applications turned in by Strategic Allied this month.
Bucher - whose county introduced hanging chads and butterfly ballots to the political lexicon during the 2000 presidential election debacle in聽聽- said her staff had raised questions about suspiciously similar signatures and incorrect addresses and dates of birth on voter registration forms.
Submitting deliberately false voter registration information, or altering information on an application without consent, is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. (Additional reporting by David Adams; Editing by Tom Brown, Todd Eastham and Lisa Shumaker)