Write-in candidates exploit a loophole in a requirement in the Florida constitution that primary elections be open to all voters if the primary will decide the winner of the race.
The report, titled “Ghost Candidates”: How They Manipulate (and sometimes steal) Florida Elections, details how ghost candidates have been used to manipulate elections for more than 20 years. Ghost candidates have been used in elections since the year 2000 to “close” primary elections that should be open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.
Most recently, ghost candidates were used to siphon votes in three state Senate races in 2020. In one of those races, the ghost candidate clearly changed the outcome.
"Politics is a blood sport," said Ben Wilcox, Integrity Florida Research Director. "But using ghost candidates to meddle in those three Senate elections crossed the legal and moral line."
Key Findings Include:
So called “ghost candidates” have a more than 20-year history in Florida, but in the 2020 election cycle the use of three ghost candidates to siphon votes in three state senate races crossed the legal line to become a criminal form of voter fraud.
Florida’s largest utility company Florida Power and Light (FPL) provided “dark money” funding for the ghost candidate scheme and, along with its Alabama-based political consulting firm Matrix, was actively involved in the strategic planning to carry out the scheme.
The ghost candidate scheme worked as intended in at least one 2020 race for Senate District 37, where the incumbent Democratic Senator lost to his Republican challenger by a little over 30 votes. The ghost candidate in the race, with the same last name as the Democratic candidate, received over 6,000 votes, many of which were clearly siphoned due to misinformation and voter confusion. The ghost candidate did no campaigning for the seat but was the beneficiary of ads run by an outside political committee promoting the ghost candidate as a “progressive.”
In August of 2022, long-time Tampa Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor called on the Department of Justice to investigate Florida Power and Light’s use of “dark money” to manipulate elections in Florida. While it’s not clear whether such an investigation is taking place, Integrity Florida believes a DOJ investigation into FPL’s involvement in the ghost candidate scheme is justified.
Policy Options to Consider:
Redesign Florida’s campaign finance regulations with a goal of ensuring maximum transparency and accountability and eliminating so-called “dark money” that uses the federal tax code to hide the sources of campaign funding.
Prohibit transfers of money between political committees.
Expressly prohibit the use of paid “ghost candidates.”
Eliminate the option to file as a write-in candidate without paying a filing fee or gathering a required number of petitions.
Require primaries to be open to all voters if the only candidates on the ballot are from one political party, regardless of whether there is a write-in candidate in the race.
To read the report Click HERE.
The report, titled “Ghost Candidates”: How They Manipulate (and sometimes steal) Florida Elections, details how ghost candidates have been used to manipulate elections for more than 20 years. Ghost candidates have been used in elections since the year 2000 to “close” primary elections that should be open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.
Most recently, ghost candidates were used to siphon votes in three state Senate races in 2020. In one of those races, the ghost candidate clearly changed the outcome.
"Politics is a blood sport," said Ben Wilcox, Integrity Florida Research Director. "But using ghost candidates to meddle in those three Senate elections crossed the legal and moral line."
Key Findings Include:
So called “ghost candidates” have a more than 20-year history in Florida, but in the 2020 election cycle the use of three ghost candidates to siphon votes in three state senate races crossed the legal line to become a criminal form of voter fraud.
Florida’s largest utility company Florida Power and Light (FPL) provided “dark money” funding for the ghost candidate scheme and, along with its Alabama-based political consulting firm Matrix, was actively involved in the strategic planning to carry out the scheme.
The ghost candidate scheme worked as intended in at least one 2020 race for Senate District 37, where the incumbent Democratic Senator lost to his Republican challenger by a little over 30 votes. The ghost candidate in the race, with the same last name as the Democratic candidate, received over 6,000 votes, many of which were clearly siphoned due to misinformation and voter confusion. The ghost candidate did no campaigning for the seat but was the beneficiary of ads run by an outside political committee promoting the ghost candidate as a “progressive.”
In August of 2022, long-time Tampa Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor called on the Department of Justice to investigate Florida Power and Light’s use of “dark money” to manipulate elections in Florida. While it’s not clear whether such an investigation is taking place, Integrity Florida believes a DOJ investigation into FPL’s involvement in the ghost candidate scheme is justified.
Policy Options to Consider:
Redesign Florida’s campaign finance regulations with a goal of ensuring maximum transparency and accountability and eliminating so-called “dark money” that uses the federal tax code to hide the sources of campaign funding.
Prohibit transfers of money between political committees.
Expressly prohibit the use of paid “ghost candidates.”
Eliminate the option to file as a write-in candidate without paying a filing fee or gathering a required number of petitions.
Require primaries to be open to all voters if the only candidates on the ballot are from one political party, regardless of whether there is a write-in candidate in the race.
To read the report Click HERE.
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