Miami – The arrests of 20 people, most of them Black, who allegedly committed voter fraud in 2020 when a 2018 constitutional amendment allowed ex-convicts to register to vote in elections where they reside is causing an uproar.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to crackdown on voter fraud has caused some confusion among the people who were taken into custody recently for voting illegally.

But the Florida Department of Elections may be at fault for initially verifying their eligibility to vote but later recognized a mix up and rescinded their rights to cast ballots.

However, by the time the information reached 67 counties election departments in Florida including Miami-Dade, it was too late.

The applicants had already voted.

The saga commenced when DeSantis’ election police initiative went into effect which Democrats and his critics said he’s using for his benefit to win reelection this Fall by barring some ex-felons from voting.

Under the constitutional amendment which state-wide voters approved in a referendum, ex-felons can register to vote unless they served time for murder and felony sexual crimes.

Prior to the amendment, ex-cons had to have their civil rights restored to vote which can take seven years after they submit a Restoration of Civil Rights Application accompanied by certified court documents for each felony conviction.

According to a state report on voter registration, most of them registered as Democrats when the 2018 constitutional amendment took effect but former felons who served time for murder and felony sexual crimes or those who still owe fines or restitution were banned from voting.

That was the case for Robert Lee Wood who was arrested in August after he voted in the 2020 election.

According to the Miami Herald, Wood served 19 years in prison for second degree murder.

Wood was prohibited from voting since he was not eligible to cast a ballot under the amendment that restored ex-felons voting rights.

However, a Miami-Dade County Court judge dismissed his case last week because DeSantis’ plan did not involve multiple jurisdictions in Florida.

That was the argument by Wood’s attorney who asked Judge Milton Hirsch to dismiss the case.

"Here, the crime, if there was one, occurred exclusively in Miami," Hirsch wrote. "It is an old truth that all politics is local. OSP seeks to stand that old truth on its head."

DeSantis plans to appeal Hirsch’s ruling.

His press secretary Bryan Griffin released a statement saying the judge’s ruling was the wrong choice.

"We disagree with the court’s jurisdictional ruling and intend to appeal," he said. "Given that elections violations of this nature impact all Florida voters, elections officials, state government, and the integrity of our republic, we continue to view the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution as the appropriate agency to prosecute these crimes."

Some lawyers for others arrested in the voter fraud sting also will ask judges in their jurisdictions to dismiss their clients’ cases.

DeSantis announced the arrests in August saying Florida is apprehending illegal voters in a state that has been plagued by voter fraud in previous state elections.

They face a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison if convicted.

Some were arrested for using a fake I.D. to vote but the 2018 amendment sparked the controversy.

Some of the Black people arrested were left incredulous when police officers showed up to arrest them.

Police body camera video shows the state police taking Tony Patterson into custody and leaving him confused about the arrest.

“What is wrong with this state, man?” Patterson says in the video. “Voter fraud? Y’all said anybody with a felony could vote, man.”

Another body camera footage shows state police officers arresting a Black woman for committing voter fraud.

She told police officers she registered to vote under the 2018 constitutional amendment and received her voter’s registration card in the mail. "Voter fraud?” she asked. “I voted, but I ain’t commit no fraud. I was allowed to vote. They gave me my registration card to vote."

A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the Florida Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the cases including the two from Miami-Dade County.

Suzy Trutie, deputy supervisor for Miami-Dade Elections, told the South Florida Times applicants filled out a voter registration application in the county where they reside.

The elections department subsequently sends the applications to the Florida Division of Elections in Tallahassee to verify a person’s identity through the social security administration office, motor vehicle and registration and vital statistics records to make sure they are eligible to vote.

Trutie said the state elections department gave Miami-Dade the green light to issue the voter registration cards for the 2020 election, but the state erred and later sent the elections departments in Florida a notice that some of the applicants were ineligible to vote.

But Trutie said the notification was sent out too late after the applicants had already voted. "The state confirmed at the time they verified their ID, and we issued the cards, but after that the information was sent to us that they were ineligible to vote, they had already voted," she said. "The time gap between the verification to vote and the information sent to us that they were ineligible to vote was the issue."

Trutie said to avoid another mix up, the Miami-Dade Elections Department implemented a new procedure for the 2020 midterm elections in which the county will place a voter challenge on all registrations verified by the state to determine if applicants are eligible to vote or not.

"To ensure it doesn’t happen again, the voter challenge would avoid that time gap to prevent them from voting in the future," she said.

Despite the mix up, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a Republican, suggested on Meet the Press the people arrested for voter fraud will still be prosecuted.

South Florida State Senator Shervin Jones, DeSantis’ most vocal critic, said the crackdown wasn’t fair because it wasn’t the people’s fault that they were allowed to vote.

"Imagine being a returning citizen, serving your time, worked to get your life back, registered to vote and voted with no intent to defraud, and then arrested not knowing what you did wrong," Jones said. "Interrupting people’s livelihoods for political theater is lame."

DeSantis is being challenged by Democrat and former Florida Governor Charlie Crist next month.