A Florida attorney wrote a letter Friday to a state prosecutor alleging that the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd while in police custody had voted illegally in Florida in 2016 and 2018.
Florida attorney seeking probe of Derek Chauvin's voting record
The fired Minneapolis officer charged with murder in George Floyd's death voted in Florida, where he also has property, in 2016 and 2018.
June 5, 2020 at 11:58PM
Derek Michael Chauvin, 44, is listed as having property in both Oakdale, Minn., and Windermere, Fla. On Friday, Dan Helm, a Florida attorney and candidate for Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections, asked Orange County State Attorney Aramis Ayala to prosecute Chauvin for violating the state's election laws when he voted in Florida elections. Helm said the violation is a third-degree felony.
Orange County, Fla., voting records list Chauvin as an active voter and affiliated with the Republican Party of Florida.
In an e-mail Friday, Helm told the Star Tribune that he checked the county's voter file after learning Chauvin had property there. "When I learned he voted here to influence our elections, while living in Minnesota, I was outraged," said Helm, who described himself as active in voter protection efforts in Florida.
Eric Nelson, an attorney for Chauvin, declined to comment on Friday and the Orange County State Attorney was not immediately available for comment.
Helm alleges that because Chauvin lived, worked and presumably paid taxes in Minnesota during the 2016 and 2018 elections, he could not claim residency in Florida, thus making him ineligible to vote in the state.
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
