Politicians are well schooled in the adage “keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer.”
 
Miami-Dade County’s State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, however, keeps her friends close and prosecutes her enemies.  When politically expedient, she makes sure to prosecute the enemies of her friends, too.

An article posted on the Miami Herald online, Police raid Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez’s mayoral campaign absentee ballot fraud investigation is one such example of Rundle’s loyalty.  Especially to her long-time friend and political ally, Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado.

This new investigation reminds me of the time Rundle went after Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones in 2011 because of bad blood between the Commissioner and Regalado.  You can follow that story in its entirety over at The Crespogram Report, and especially in vivid detail in his article STUPID IS AS STUPID SAYS.  Al Crespo has made it his business to avidly follow KFR’s political career.

State Attorney Rundle just launched an investigation on Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, Regalado’s opponent in the upcoming mayoral race.  Yesterday morning, the home of Suarez campaign worker Juan Pablo Baggini was raided by police at Rundle’s order and discovered that twenty people had asked and authorized Baggini to request absentee ballots on their behalf.  Those voters even put their authorization in writing.

However, according to the article in the Herald, “it can be a third-degree felony in Florida to submit an absentee-ballot request for anyone who is not an immediate family member.”

Voters on the list who were interviewed stated that they signed up to vote absentee and gave permission for Suarez’ workers to request the ballots for them.

As reported by Political Cortadito today, “Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez has responded quickly and openly” to these charges, and he told CBS Local that this was an “honest mistake.”

Remember – these are absentee ballot REQUESTS, not absentee ballots.  Candidates have been known to encourage people to request absentee ballots so that their campaign workers can keep track of who makes the requests and then follow up with phone calls or emails after the ballots are mailed out.

One such politician who was known to work the absentee ballot scheme well was North Miami Beach EX-mayor Myron Rosner.  In May of 2011 when he ran for re-election, he sent out this full color, two-sided mailer:

Attached to the mailer were two postage prepaid postcards, one for the recipient and one for a friend, so that the voters could simply sign the “VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT REQUEST FORM” and pop them into the nearest mailbox.

However, the pre-printed mailing address on the form was not that of the Miami-Dade County Elections Department but to a post office address that I discovered belonged to Myron’s campaign.  I remember calling the Elections Department to find out if this was legal and was told that his soliciting of absentee ballots by gathering requests was perfectly legal.  Huh?

I wonder how many recipients filled out the cards and unknowingly mailed them to Myron, who was then able to pull the personal information from the cards, INCLUDING PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS, so that he could follow up after the ballots were mailed out.

I wonder how many cards Myron tossed into the garbage if he suspected that any of them were from supporters of his opponent.  Just saying.

I also wonder why it’s now illegal for the campaign of Francis Suarez to apply for absentee ballots on behalf of voters who knowingly ask his campaign workers to do so.  I’m told the absentee ballot laws changed since then, but I’ve been hard pressed to find any information.  In fact, one article I was able to dig up suggested that HB1355 passed on May 19, 2011 “has actually made it easier for citizens to cast an absentee ballot, and actually, increases the likelihood of voter fraud.”  A Miami-Dade County Ordance 11-93 passed on December 6, 2011 amended the county’s Code regarding absentee ballots themselves, but doesn’t seem to deal with absentee ballot requests.

In the meantime, the real problem at hand is the appearance of Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s selective prosecution and abuse of power.

Her full blown investigation targeting Francis Suarez’ campaign worker appears to be an attempt to derail the campaign challenging the seat of her political crony Tomas Regalado.  If that weren’t the case, why won’t she use her office to investigate and prosecute all the absentee and voter fraud that is rife in North Miami and North Miami Beach?

Alert and concerned citizen activists know exactly who the perpetrators are.  We have handed her evidence on a silver platter, wrapped up in a big red bow.  Yet, she still refuses to do anything about it.  At the same time, nearly a year has passed since the Hialeah boletera ring has been busted, and still there’s no trial in sight.  Why?

By now Katherine Fernandez Rundle has got to be aware what’s going on up here in the remote northeast corner of Miami-Dade County and yet it’s apparently of no concern to her.  She refuses to go after corrupt politicians and voter fraud, despite overwhelming evidence that both are in abundance in North Miami and North Miami Beach, as well as Hialeah.

Yet for some odd reason, Katherine Fernandez Rundle found it conveniently necessary, not to mention expedient, to go after Francis Suarez less than five months before the Miami mayoral election on November 5, 2013.  Keeping her friends in power empowers her.  Keeping her friends close and prosecuting their enemies will ensure her continued reign as the most powerful politician in Miami-Dade County.

Lord Acton’s stern admonition comes to mind.  “All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”