Is anyone curious why the Broward State Attorney’s Office is handling the absentee ballot fraud case of Hialeah ballot broker Deisy Cabrera?  As reported in today’s Miami Herald in two separate stories, Notes kept by accused Miami-Dade ballot broker reveal details and Deisy Cabrera’s Notebooks, the mysterious notebooks that Miami’s State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle has been sitting on for the last nine months since Cabrera was arrested have finally surfaced.  Thanks to the efforts of private investigators Joe Carillo and Ana Lanuza, who nabbed Cabrera and forced the hand of law enforcement to go after her, this case is FINALLY going forward.

But, there is more to the story.  After months of dogging Rundle, who recused herself on August 2, 2012 after Cabrera’s arrest, Carillo contacted the Broward State Attorney who was appointed by the Governor to take up the case.  Carillo told her about Cabrera’s notebooks, which were taken into evidence during her arrest, and suggested that she get them from Rundle’s office.  Mr. Carillo didn’t know that the notebooks were finally turned over until yesterday when he was advised that the articles were being published today.  Please read his story from Watchdog.org in an article dated April 1, 2012 entitled New battle rages over FL absentee ballot fraud.

Folks, this is huge.  As my readers know, I have been on a mission to uncover absentee ballot fraud here in North Miami and North Miami Beach.  For years now, citizen activists in our cities have known about the blatant fraud that has been perpetrated in at least the last two election cycles.  We also have our suspicions as to what individuals have been involved, and yet pleas to the State Attorney and the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust have been largely ignored.

A familiar name kept popping up in my investigations:  Al Lorenzo.  According to a Miami Herald article from September 1, 2012, Former North Miami Beach mayor investigated over cost of bus bench ads, not only did “Lorenzo’s company, Quantum Results, Inc., serve as a consultant” to Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s campaign, but he is also connected to the investigation of North Miami Beach EX-mayor Myron Rosner for campaign finance fraud.  The Herald reports, “Investigators are also examining political strategist Al Lorenzo, who helped with Rosner’s campaign but does not appear in campaign reports.”  Myron claimed that Lorenzo was paid through Myron’s payments to The Campaign Super Store, Inc. for advertising.  His Campaign Treasurer’s Reports show that he paid The Campaign Super Store, Inc., a total amount of $10,422.49 for his 2011 campaign for re-election.  The owner of The Campaign Superstore, Inc., Charles Safdie, told the Herald, “It’s customary for campaign consultants to receive a commission or nominal fee in exchange for referring a client.”

The big question is:  Why did Myron hire Lorenzo through The Campaign Superstore, Inc. when I hear the two of them are good buddies.  In fact, they’ve been seen around town at functions together over the years, including a Miami-Dade League of Cities Gala Installation three years ago.  If Myron wasn’t trying to hide these payments, why not pay Lorenzo directly?  Just saying.

There were other suspicious payments that I noted on Myron’s Campaign Treasurer Reports which raised eyebrows and which reflected his close ties to none other than North Miami Beach councilman Frantz Pierre, including a few people known to be Pee-Aire cronies.  Let’s just say that the North Miami Circle of Corruption is far reaching.

In 2009, Myron was known to have cleaned up the election by absentee ballot votes.  Even though Myron lost the 2011 election, he still took a huge chunk of absentee ballots.  As a result, I’ve been watching the absentee ballot vote very closely.

With the 2013 North Miami Beach election in full swing, I decided to try to avert an absentee ballot fraud disaster this time around.  l took it upon myself last month to contact and hire Mr. Joe Carillo.  I asked him to investigate one of the well-known alleged ballot brokers, who has been known to brag to candidates, “No one gets elected in North Miami or NMB without my help.”  This man is none other than Volney Nerette, who has been on my radar since the 2009 NMB Municipal Election.

On April 25, 2013, Joe Carillo started a surveillance on Nerette and hit pay dirt.  Here’s a pictorial on the Travels of Volney:

Mr. Carillo took these pictures to the Public Corruptions Unit in the hopes of getting them to open an investigation.  They responded with (and I paraphrase), “Nothing to see here, folks.  Move along.”

Here’s the bottom line.

Absentee ballot fraud is a monster of a problem that doesn’t seem to be taken seriously by any of the law enforcement agencies, the Attorney General’s Office, the Miami State Attorney’s Office, the Florida Legislature, the courts, and the various and sundry Elections and Ethics Commissions.  The boleteros in Hialeah know this.  The ballot brokers in northeast Miami-Dade County know this.  They buy elections through absentee ballot fraud with impunity.

Apparently, it’s been left up to investigative reporters, bloggers and ordinary citizens to do whatever they can to protect the integrity of the vote.  Without help from authorities, we are left to take up the charge against fraud and corruption.  Even when we have evidence and good leads, we get doors slammed in our faces by those public servants who were elected or hired to protect us from the fraudsters.

For now, it appears we are on our own.  Folks, you need to keep your eyes and ears open to any and all voter fraud.  If you see or hear anything fishy, please contact me or any one of the following:

Melissa Sanchez, Miami Herald, at msanchez@elnuevoherald.com
David Ovalle, Miami Herald, at dovalle@miamiherald.com
Tim Elfrink, Miami New Times, at Tim.Elfrink@miaminewtimes.com
Elaine DeValle, Political Cortadito, at edevalle@gmail.com
Gene Lefthand, Eye On Miami, at geniusofdespair@yahoo.com
Bill Cooke, Random Pixels, at newshawk@hotmail.com
Al Crespo, The Crespogram Report, at al@alcrespo.net

We may not be able to put a stop to absentee ballot or other voter fraud, but we sure as hell can shame the fraudsters back into the shadows.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”