DAYTONA
COMMISSIONER,
CAMPAIGN
MANAGER
CHARGED WITH
ABSENTEE
BALLOT FRAUD
Daytona
Beach City
Commissioner
Derrick
Henry and
his campaign
manager were
arrested
Wednesday,
charged with
committing
absentee
ballot fraud
during
Henry’s 2010
re-election
campaign.
The arrest
of Henry and
Genesis
Robinson
comes a
little more
than two
months after
Volusia
County
Supervisor
of Elections
Ann McFall
requested an
investigation
into
irregularities
in absentee
ballot
requests
coming into
her office.
McFall
brought her
concerns to
the Volusia
County
Sheriff’s
Office in
August,
prompting
the
Sheriff’s
Office and
the State
Attorney’s
Office to
immediately
launch a
joint
investigation
that
ultimately
led to the
filing of a
dozen felony
charges
against both
defendants.
The
investigation
revealed
that Henry
and Robinson
devised a
strategy to
boost
Henry’s
re-election
bid by
obtaining
absentee
ballots for
numerous
people, most
of whom
never
requested
the ballots.
By law,
residents
are only
allowed to
request
absentee
ballots for
themselves,
immediate
family
members or
for someone
for whom
they’re
acting as
legal
guardian.
McFall filed
the
complaint on
Aug. 11
after her
office
received a
large number
of requests
for absentee
ballots that
were all
initiated
from the
same e-mail
address.
Based on the
e-mail
address, it
appeared
that the
requests
came from
someone with
an interest
in the
Daytona
Beach City
Commission
Zone 5 race.
Henry, the
Zone 5
incumbent
who was
locked in a
three-way
primary, was
re-elected
on Aug. 24.
The
subsequent
investigation
revealed
that between
the two of
them, Henry
and Robinson
had
requested a
total of 92
absentee
ballots
through the
elections
office’s web
site. Four
of the
absentee
ballots were
found at
Henry’s
house when
investigators
searched it
on Sept. 23.
Investigators
also
recovered
absentee
ballot
applications
and receipts
for some of
the absentee
ballots
along with
handbooks
outlining
Florida
election
laws. The
four
absentee
ballots were
found under
a computer
keyboard.
Investigators
from both
the
Sheriff’s
Office and
the State
Attorney’s
Office
interviewed
many of the
92 people
for whom
absentee
ballots were
requested.
And what
they heard
was a
variety of
stories. For
instance,
one resident
said she
received an
absentee
ballot in
the mail
even though
she hadn’t
requested
one. A few
days later,
she said one
of Henry’s
campaign
workers
showed up at
her house
and asked if
she had
received her
ballot and
had filled
it out. The
resident
said she got
the ballot
while the
campaign
worker
waited. Then
she filled
it out,
sealed and
signed the
ballot and
turned it
over to the
campaign
worker. In
another
case, a
resident
said that
Henry
offered to
get him an
absentee
ballot and
the resident
agreed. But
when the
ballot
arrived at
the man’s
house, it
came with a
second
ballot for a
former
resident who
had moved
away in
2007. In yet
another
instance,
two requests
that were
made in the
name of a
resident
were
subsequently
rejected by
the
elections
office
because the
resident’s
voter status
had been
classified
as inactive.
So
investigators
sought out
the man to
see if he
knew why the
absentee
ballot
requests had
been made on
his behalf.
But after
investigating,
officials
discovered
that the man
didn’t
request the
ballots and
hasn’t lived
or voted in
Florida in
more than
two decades.
Henry also
had
requested an
absentee
ballot for
his niece,
listing her
address as a
home
registered
to Henry
that was
located
within Zone
5. But
investigators
discovered
that even
though the
niece used
the absentee
ballot to
vote in the
Zone 5 race,
she actually
lives at a
different
location in
the city,
outside of
Zone 5.
Investigators
also spoke
to several
others who
confirmed
that they
hadn’t asked
for an
absentee
ballot and
had no idea
that the
Henry
campaign had
requested a
ballot for
them. During
an interview
with
investigators,
Robinson
acknowledged
coming up
with the
strategy of
applying
on-line for
absentee
ballots,
saying that
Henry had
approved the
idea back in
April when
Robinson
presented it
to him.
Robinson
said it was
done in an
effort to
increase
voter
turnout and
improve
Henry’s
chances of
re-election.
Henry was
re-elected
in the
municipal
election
with 65
percent of
the vote,
beating his
nearest
competitor
by nearly
600 votes.
Based on the
findings of
the
investigation,
Circuit
Court Judge
R. Michael
Hutcheson
issued
arrest
warrants
Wednesday
morning for
both Henry
and
Robinson.
Henry, 41,
is charged
with two
counts of
absentee
ballots and
voting
violations,
nine counts
of being a
principal to
absentee
ballots and
voting
violations
and one
count of
conspiracy
to commit
absentee
ballots and
voting
violations.
Robinson,
21, is
facing 11
counts of
being a
principal to
absentee
ballots and
voting
violations
and one
count of
conspiracy
to commit
absentee
ballots and
voting
violations.
All of the
charges are
3rd degree
felonies.
Late
Wednesday
morning,
both
defendants
surrendered
to
investigators
with the
Sheriff’s
Office and
the State
Attorney’s
Office. They
will be
transported
to the
Volusia
County
Branch Jail
in Daytona
Beach on
$6,000 bond
each.
