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Voter intimidation is a crime in Florida. Here’s how to report it

Voter intimidation is a crime in Florida. Here’s how to report it

When you go to vote, no one has the right to approach you, hand out leaflets, try to persuade you to vote for their candidate or threaten you for your choice.

They are also prohibited swinging a machete at you while waving a Donald Trump flagas it happened Tuesday afternoon at a polling place in Neptune Beach, Neptune Beach Police Chief Michael Key Jr. said.

Police arrested Caleb James Williams, 18, of Neptune Beach on a charge of aggravated assault on a person 65 years of age or older and a charge of improper display of a firearm or dangerous weapon, according to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office jail records. Key said he was part of a group of seven men, all 16- and 17-year-old juveniles, who showed up to “protest and confront the opposite political side.”

Key said it escalated “well beyond free speech” to Williams “swinging a machete in an aggressive position overhead” at two women, aged 71 and 54, scaring them. The women called the police.

The Neptune Beach Police Department said 18-year-old Caleb James Williams used a machete at a polling place in Beach to intimidate voters. The video shows him holding it up to reveal a Donald Trump flag. He was charged with assault on a person aged 65 and improper display of a firearm or dangerous weapon on October 29, 2024.The Neptune Beach Police Department said 18-year-old Caleb James Williams used a machete at a polling place in Beach to intimidate voters. The video shows him holding it up to reveal a Donald Trump flag. He was charged with assault on a person aged 65 and improper display of a firearm or dangerous weapon on October 29, 2024.

The Neptune Beach Police Department said 18-year-old Caleb James Williams used a machete at a polling place in Beach to intimidate voters. The video shows him holding it up to reveal a Donald Trump flag. He was charged with assault on a person aged 65 and improper display of a firearm or dangerous weapon on October 29, 2024.

“Voting is one of the most sacred and protected rights in our country,” Key said press conference on Tuesday. “Ensuring everyone’s right to vote is critical, and that will not be compromised in Neptune Beach or Duval County.”

Anti-Semitic slurs were shouted in South Florida

A man was arrested last Thursday in West Palm Beach for shout anti-Semitic and racial insults and obscenities circling the parking lot of the early voting location. Nicholas Farley, 30, faces up to 10 years in prison on two counts of voter intimidation and election interference.

These are extreme examples of voter intimidation. It is a third-degree felony in Florida, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, and is against federal law.

Here’s what you need to know before going to the polls.

What is voter intimidation?

According to Florida law, a person may not “directly or indirectly use or threaten to use force, violence or intimidation or any coercive or intimidating tactics to induce or compel a person”:

  • Vote or abstain

  • Vote or abstain from voting for any particular person or election measure

  • Refrain from registering to vote

  • Refrain from performing the duties of an official who has legal authority or a voting observer

It is also illegal to knowingly use false information to challenge a person’s right to vote; attempt to induce someone to vote, register to vote, become an election official, or become a vote observer; or knowingly destroy, deface or deface a voter registration form or ballot.

Federal law says that “(w) anyone who intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote of his choice, or to cause for such other person, for which may or may not be voted upon, any candidate (for federal office) shall be liable to a fine under this article or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.”

This is the machete that Neptune Beach police say Caleb Williams brandished a Trump flag at a polling place to intimidate voters on Oct. 29, 2024.This is the machete that Neptune Beach police say Caleb Williams brandished a Trump flag at a polling place to intimidate voters on Oct. 29, 2024.

This is the machete that Neptune Beach police say Caleb Williams brandished a Trump flag at a polling place to intimidate voters on Oct. 29, 2024.

What are the examples of voter intimidation?

Voter intimidation can take many forms, but the end result is the same: make you feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable, and nervous about voting. A few examples from a non-profit watchdog group Legal Center of Campania include but are not limited to:

  • Verbal or physical confrontation of voters

  • Physical intimidation: Standing or hovering near voters

  • Direct face-to-face betting or voter polls or ask voters for ID or proof of citizenship if they are not authorized to do so

  • Distribution of postcards which impose prison terms or other penalties on persons who vote

  • Occupation of the polling station parking lot so that voters can prevent entry.

  • Vandalism polling stations

  • Use of police officers threaten or intimidate voters

  • Threats from the employer a hint that a person’s job, salary or benefits may be in jeopardy depending on how they vote

Each polling place must have a 150-foot “no-tampering zone” in which no person, group or organization can approach you with the intent to influence your vote, distribute handouts or campaign materials, conduct polls (except at authorized exits -fields), ask for signatures on petitions or try to sell you something.

What should I do if someone uses voter intimidation against me?

Don’t try to attract. Move away if possible, ask to be left alone if not and tell someone. You have a variety of options.

  • Call 911

  • Tell the electoral service representative on the website

  • Notify any law enforcement personnel present at the polling location

  • Report it statestate prosecutor, yours local election commissionor call the Florida Voter Helpline at 1-866-308-6739

  • Contact the local FBI office.

What is allowed at the polling station?

Officials are also prohibited from influencing someone’s vote on election day. Precinct workers, election inspectors and other workers are prohibited from:

  • Wearing campaign buttons, shirts, hats or any items of political affiliation

  • Discussing any candidate, political party or related topics with other employees

  • Have any visible written campaign or related material

All photography, including surveillance cameras, is prohibited, although voters may take photos of their ballots while in the voting booth.

Who can go to the polls in Florida?

There are only such people allowed to enter Florida polling places:

  • Man to vote

  • A person under the voter’s care, such as a child or an elderly person

  • A person who cares for a voter or helps him to vote in the case of an elderly voter or a voter who does not speak English

  • District election inspector or his deputy

  • Voting observers approved by the Supervisor of Elections

  • Election observers appointed by the State Department

  • Authorized law enforcement officers or emergency service personnel

Spouses, parents, guardians and others cannot accompany you to the voting booth unless they are under your care or you are under their care as described above.

If the voting room is located in a place where citizens enter businesses or homes, other people may pass through the area, but election officials must ensure that they do not interfere with the voting process.

What are poll watchers?

Poll watchers these are the people assigned to monitor the voting process to ensure security and watch for signs of vote fraud. They must be authorized by the Chief Election Officer and have an identification badge issued.

Observers cannot interact with voters or approach voting booths and cannot interfere with the “fair conduct” of elections. Please contact the election headquarters with any questions. Each polling room or early voting station may have one observer:

  • A political party or candidate

  • A political committee formed for the special purpose of advocating for the adoption or rejection of a question put to a vote

Voting observers cannot be candidates or law enforcement officers.

Are guns allowed at Florida polls?

there is no Under Florida lawno one may carry openly or concealed weapons into the polling station.

The only exception according to statewould be a law enforcement officer who has been granted the right to vote while on duty and who is required to carry a weapon while on duty.

(This story has been updated with new information.)

David Bauerlin of the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on the Florida Times-Union: Trump supporter brandishes machete accused of voter intimidation