Every time someone like this woman steals a vote, it cancels out a legitimate vote. I say that the election department should stop giving campaigns voter absentee ballot information. They have unearned the right to know by financing this cottage industry of stealing/manipulating votes. Sometimes elections are changed by absentee ballots -- Lynda Bell's close win as one example. She had David Rivera's help with her absentee votes according to two sources. Her opponent won but the lopsided absentees rocketed Bell ahead by a little over 300 votes.
Among other things in today's report:
"• She had access to more than 550 voters, the vast majority elderly Hispanics who live in Hialeah. The people whose names, address, phone numbers and dates of birth she tracked on lists titled “Deisy’s Voters” include some who have Alzheimer’s and others who are illiterate. Next to some names, Cabrera noted whether they were blind or deaf.
• She registered what appear to be payments for a total of more than $9,000 from seven judicial candidates in 2008."
34 comments:
The dollar amounts listed are chump change. This boletera was cheap. There's got to be more money somewhere.
The comments about Bell are very accurate as are the reader's belief that there is more money involved. Middlemen direct the cash which comes from a variety of special interests and don't think for a second that they don't try to "buy" favor with elections workers. The alleged schemes work at various levels.
This can not and will not stop until absentee voting is restricted to those traveling or legitimately infirmed.
Alex Dominguez
As someone who is running for office and has been out on the campaign trail,for last 2 years (state rep race) , I can assure you we have a MONUMENTAL problem with AB fraud. It is especially prevalent at the senior citizen an affordable housing complexes and federal section 8 buildings. It is amazing how voters flat out tell you that they hand there AB ballots over to someone every election. I agree that AB info should not be made public. But until a politician is arrested for paying and participating in this scam , it will continue. Look at the elected officials on her note list. Very sad anyone would continue to,vote for these people.
Note the boletera wrote she got more money than the campaigns recorded.
That judges cast a blind eye on this is shameful. They should be the first to put principles above personal gain. They should unite as one to denounce these practices instead of pleading ignorance. They all know that votes are being stolen on their behalf.
Stealing is such a harsh term for these meagerly paid unapreciated servants of the voting populace and augmentors of electoral participation.
Don't the deaf and blind as well as the mentally incapacitated have a right to cast a ballott even if they can't tell the difference between Raul Martinez and Shakira.
These poor boleteras have even helped folks speak their mind from the grave long after we mere selfish mortals have forgotten their existence.
I for one salute these mavens of mercy who make it possible for every vote to count ,sometimes even twice.
Reviewing David Rivera should be that everyone involved or rumored to be involved with him should be investigated. This would include Lynda Bell and anyone with an unusually high AB voter count. If it is suspected that ALF communities are involved then another investigation is required and we know the ALF's involved. What is the FBI waiting on.
We know that that Lynda Bell preys on the 55+ group. The AB vote definitely needs changing with jail time required. If its fines they usually have enough money to pay the fine. Jail!!
This fraud in voting is a serious threat to our democracy.
Note she has section 8 housing. I wonder if she reports her boletera money. I smell income tax evasion.
If the Miami Herald made this a priority, this fraud would be long over. Thank you E O M for getting the ball rolling with your focus on absentee ballots.
Thank El Nuevo Herald too. They have made this a priority.
This AB voter gathering is horrific and a disgrace to this community. Ms. Cabrera living in section 8 at the expense of taxpayers, no food (sure she is getting food stamps) healthcare (sure she has medical which is free) and a check every month from the government does not show respect for this country. The politicians using this lady are no more than political whores and ought to be shameful of themselves. It's right to say they are worst than her. Of course when the authorities begin to close in on them they will get heart trouble and become ill. Just to dodge investigating. The names seem to have and limited to one ethic group so far. I am sure this should be a wider net. Then we can compare and see how wide spread this is. Broward County State Attorney you will do a good job I have seen the number of corrupt politicians you have disgraced. Thank You!
Sleazy lobbyists associated with fraud include Francois Illias, Al Lorenzo, Steve Marin and many other " usual suspects". Money greasing palms. Indictments please.
I am not sure when winning an election became so important that a cottage industry would be created to insure people got elected. This operation was very detailed-oriented with individual voters targeted and worked over to get their votes. It preys on seniors both as direct vote operatives and as citizen victims. It makes fun of our election processes, and destroys the essence of our democracy. Maybe that is why we are in the shape we are in. The people who win weren't elected by the people, they are in office by illegal means. Something has got to change right away. Are the judges elected too? Have we found out yet who orchestrated the 2,500 fradulent absentee ballots from the last election? Who will lead the needed reforms? The grand jury? Other elected office holders who are products of the cottage industry, namely the Governor? Members of the FL House or Senate? The State Attorney? The Mayor? The Commission? Who?
Maybe this is why the Dolphins so quickly went with an election in the county even before getting approval to do so in Tallahassee. Not only did they pay for the election, they may have paid for the win too. If that was the case, the only option to stop it was in Tallahassee.
Interesting comment about the Dolphins. The street level election operatives, as opposed to the names you saw in the paper, were very, very confident of an election victory.
There is something unusual about the Dolphin renovation election. I am still getting shinny flyers in the mail trying to get my vote. I voted absentee sometime ago. Before the election was called off, I got three flyers. After it died in Tallahassee, I got two more including one yesterday. I am unsure what that means. Maybe I will keep getting them until election day? Maybe their campaign was on remote control?
The Dolphin direct mail ads were very deceptive. It appears the Dolphins, Steve Ross, and their lobbyists had an organized scheme to lie, cheat and steal to win the referendum vote. No wonder they were confident. They rigged the election. It is too bad County Mayor Carlos Gimenez did not stand up to Ross and just said No. We are lucky common sense prevailed in Tallahassee.
There needs to be an immediate moratorium on the release of personal voter information to candidates and their operatives. For safety reasons, many people young, middle age, and seniors would never give a stranger their names, addresses, age, phone numbers or voting records. With untrustworthy candidates and needy people with portions of the lists, one could easily be targeted for criminal activity, including ID theft. Wealthy zip codes are especially vulnerable. Times have changed, ans so must we.
I read somewhere that the election would go on as scheduled and the Elections Department would be releasing the results after the polls closed on election day even though the results don't count.
You read wrong. The elections website says it is cancelled.
Yes, I read wrong. It was in WSVN.com under local news in a story titled "County to Release Sun Life Renovation Votes", dated May 7th. It said that they would release the vote after the election was over.
The problem with AB votes starts with Katherine Fernandez-Rundle. She has protected the people behind the ballot brokers like Al Lorenzo, and therefore nothing of substance will ever happen as long as she remains State Attorney.
On the Steve Ross front, has anybody wondered whether the reason that he behaved like he did right after the legislative session ended without a vote on the proposal for the stadium deal is because a handful of legislators took a lot of his money and then screwed him?
How many remember former Speaker Bo Johnson and the $250,000 bribe that he took from Bally - the casino company - on the deal to allow a referendum question to be put on the ballot to allow casino gambling?
I wrote about it in 2011 as part of a story I did about Regalado going on a secret trip to Taiwan, with Mikki Canton, who was part of a team of lawyers representing Bally's in the deal to get the referendum on the ballot. http://alturl.com/72w2v
Guy's like Ross don't normally show the kind of anger that he initially showed unless he got screwed, and paying out a bunch of money on the expectation that the money will produce results will piss even rich people off when it turns out that they took his money and then screwed him.
Back to the AB ballots. The judges listed in this woman's little notebook all should be sanctioned - but they won't because, Its Miami, Bitches!
Well, wouldn't Ross have to report any money given to elected officials? And wouldn't the elected officials have to report any money given to them? We will know the whole story sooner or later.
No the money gets lost in ECO's. very hard to trace as they give from one to another, to another.
One tactic used in Hialeah senior housing is to tell the residents that they must vote by absentee and show the ballot to someone who makes sure they vote the "right" way and give that ballot to the broker to make sure it gets mailed in correctly and unchanged. Robaina's machine were masters at it.
Anon above, you are right about releasing this kind of personal information. If they can be hit-up this way for votes, they could also easily be set-up for other criminal activity.
Steve Ross and his lobbyists were too confident. With no one spending money to write and distribute "ANTI Tax Increase" mailers Ross was free to blanket the voters with his deceptive direct mail pieces. Braman was right to lobby in Tallahassee.
This absentee ballot voting has become political terrorism. A serious threat to our democracy.
Maybe Braman knew the fix was in and the only hope was Tallahassee.
Eye, Thank you for writing this blog. A thank you to all bloggers: You Al Crespo (who we miss) Political cortadito, Straw buyer, Voters opinion. I told you all long ago that together Miami Dade can be cleaned up, but it takes work.
I am going to give your readers a hint in a short story. A man by the name of Jerry Ramos is the one who forced KFR to recuse herself from the investigation. Mr. Ramos worked for Al Lorenzo; And is a convicted felon. Here is the catch. Ms. Cabrera and Mr. Ramos were associates from what I know(duh) and READY FOR THIS??? KFR reduced his probation time down by 50%!!! He was the one to be pressed on this case because if he was he could have had his probation revoked and sent to federal prison. Didn't Mr. Lorenzo signed a sworn affidavit to Mayor Carlos Gimenez stating none of his workers took part in this? Seems Mr. Lorenzo should be tried for perjury. I hope someone in Law Enforcement is reading this. Mr. Ramos is the key to this case besides Ms. Cabrera. KFR is not going to investigate as she will end up near Mr. Ramos in Prison.
What ever happened to the Phantom ballot requests with the domestic IP address?? Please look into the De La Portilla family. KFR does not want to do that either because they worked for her in the past. Why in the world would it have taken so long to release these notebooks from Ms. Cabrera? The State was ready to go to trial until it was publicized it cannot continue as evidence was being suppressed. The notebooks were hidden for a reason. Looks like it is time to subpoena the police and find out why.
Braman looks very smart. It definitely looks like the fix was in and the election was rigged. No wonder billionaire Steve Ross was pissed. He thought he had the deal stolen and "locked up tight". Ross probably paid for a boatload of absentee ballots.
We need to pay closer attention to the Speaker of the House. In the body politic it is quite unusual to get powerful personalities in positions of power. Most are weaklings who succumb to group-think. Strength of character, if it exists at all, is usually overcome by money, fear, or other factors. For a politican, particulary a republican, to stand up and protect voters, tax payers and the public from predators is highly unusual. His stopping the "machine" was a major demonstration of who he is.
Herald reported that lobbyist Steve Marin was paid $525,000+ for the deceptive direct mail sent to deceive voters on the Dolphins deal. $525,000+?
If the election was cancelled why report the paritial results? Did the Elections Department stop accepting absentee ballots once the issue died in Tallahassee? If not, how long did they continue accepting them and why? And will those ballots be included in the reporting of results?
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