Officers: Florida intercourse offender charged with unlawful voting

MELBOURNE, Fla. — A registered intercourse offender in Florida has been arrested on fees that he voted illegally within the November 2020 election.

Louis Palmieri, 77, of Melbourne, was charged Tuesday with false affirmation in reference to an election and voting by an unqualified elector, each third-degree felonies, in line with Brevard County jail data. Melbourne is on the Atlantic coast, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Orlando.

Palmieri voted within the November 2020 election after signing paperwork claiming he was eligible to vote, the Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement’s Election Crime Unit stated in a information launch. Florida voters handed a state constitutional modification in 2018 to revive the voting rights of most convicted felons, however the modification exempted felons convicted of homicide or sexual offences. Palmieri is on state’s intercourse offender registry following a 2003 lewd and lascivious conviction on a baby below 16 from St. Lucie County.

The case was initially noticed by the Florida Division of State and can be prosecuted by the Workplace of Statewide Prosecution.

Palmieri was being held on $10,000 bail. Jail data did not listing an lawyer.

Throughout the 2022 legislative session, Republican lawmakers handed an election police invoice pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 GOP presidential candidate, who cited as justification unspecified instances of fraud. DeSantis echoed many speaking factors on voting issues which have gained traction within the GOP after former President Donald Trump’s false claims that his reelection was stolen from him.

Final August, DeSantis introduced the arrests of 20 convicted felons accused of voting illegally within the 2020 election. However voting advocates have stated the truth that the defendants have been capable of efficiently register with their native election officers gave them a false sense of eligibility, so the instances have been unfair.