Fla. man accused of trying to fraudulently register to vote

A F l o r i d a a t t o r n e y i s a c c u s e d o f f r au d u l e n t l y applying to register to vote in Georgia so he could vote in next month’s U. S. Senate runoff elections.

The secretary of state’s office alleged Thursday that Bill Price told members of the Bay County Republican Party in Florida that he was planning to move i n with his brother in Georgia so he could register and vote in the Jan. 5 runoff elections. Price, the office says, then encouraged others in attendance to “be his roommate in Georgia” and register to vote.

The secretary of state’s office investigated Price and found that he attempted to register to vote, but the registration was pending.

“Those who move to Georgia just to vote in the Senate runoffs with no intention of staying are committing a felony that is punishable with jail time and hefty f i nes,” Secretary of St ate Brad Raffensperger said in a statement. “They will be found, they will be investigated, and they will be punished.”

The country is watching Georgia’s t wo runoff elections — Republican incumbent U. S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue versus Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively — as national Republicans try to hold on to control of the Senate. Republicans currently hold 52 seats, and if both Warnock and Ossoff win, Democratic Vice President- elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaking vote to give Democrats the edge.

Raffensperger has repeatedly di s couraged people from coming to Georgia just to register and vote.

Last week, Raffensperger announced that he was investigating voter registration groups that he alleges have sent applications to people in other states.

Raffensperger said one group sent applications to people i n New York Cit y. Another t r i ed t o re gi s t er a dead Alabama woman. Two other groups also sent improper applications, the secretary said.

Groups t hat were contacted denied the accusations.