Vote fraud is a big problem

Illegal voting story sparks criminal investigation

Law enforcement is now taking action in direct response to an NBC2 investigation involving potential voter fraud. It comes after we uncovered non U.S. citizens who were registered to vote.

The Collier County Sheriff's office is investigating two voters who admit they are not U.S. citizens, yet cast ballots in numerous elections.

"This is the first year we've actually had a complaint come in that non-citizens were voting," said Sergeant David White, who is assigned to the county's economic crimes unit.

White got the names from the Supervisor of Elections office after the NBC2 Investigators examined jury excusal forms where residents said they couldn't serve because they were not U.S. citizens.

We found nearly 100 of those names in the database of Florida registered voters.

So far, Lee and Collier county election supervisors have removed 34 of those people from the voter rolls.

Thirty-five voters provided documentation to verify citizenship. If 28 others don't respond to certified letters soon, they'll also be removed.

Our investigation also sparked change within both county election offices. They now get monthly jury excusal reports to help verify citizenship.

"I let every one of the supervisors in the state know about the investigation, what you found out, what the television station had found out and what we are doing with that information," said Sharron Harrington, Lee County Supervisor of Elections.

Harrington plans to ask law enforcement to prosecute six voters next week.

Voter fraud is a third degree felony, and it carries a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison.