Officials: Florida sex offender charged with illegal voting

MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — A registered sex offender in Florida has been arrested on charges that he voted illegally in the November 2020 election. Jail records show that 77-year-old Louis Palmieri was charged Tuesday with false affirmation in connection with an election and voting by an unqualified elector, both third-degree felonies. State investigators say Palmieri voted in the November 2020 election after signing paperwork claiming he was eligible to vote. Florida voters passed a state constitutional amendment in 2018 to restore the voting rights of most convicted felons, but the amendment exempted felons convicted of murder or sexual offences. Palmieri is on state’s sex offender registry following a 2003 lewd and lascivious conviction on a child under 16 from St. Lucie County.