4th resident of retirement haven charged with voter fraud

FILE - People sit in an outdoor dining area of a restaurant in the Lake Sumter Landing Market Square, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021, in The Villages, Fla. Three voters from the Florida retirement community that's a GOP stronghold have been arrested on charges of voting more than once. The arrests come weeks after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a pledge to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes, despite there being little evidence of such in the Sunshine State. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File) (Phelan M. Ebenhack, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

THE VILLAGES, Fla. – A fourth resident of a massive Florida retirement community has been arrested on a charge of voter fraud.

Charles Barnes was arrested Tuesday on a fraud for casting more than one ballot.

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The arrest affidavit doesn’t detail the basis for the charge. Barnes entered a not guilty plea on Thursday.

His attorney, Victor Mead, didn’t immediately return an email inquiry.

Barnes’ arrest was the fourth for voter fraud in the past two months of residents of The Villages retirement community in a county that is a Republican stronghold in Florida.

Of the three other residents, two were registered Republicans and the third had no party affiliation.


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