Palm Beach County elections supervisor warns about potential voter intimidation effort

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Wendy Sartory Link warned Wednesday that mysterious, official-sounding calls going to some voters in advance of the March 12 municipal elections may be an attempt at voter intimidation.

Link said she’s referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

A man’s voice on the automated robo-calls went to an unknown number of people Friday through Tuesday who had requested vote by mail ballots for the March 12 municipal elections.

Calls warning voters about criminal investigations and penalties is a tactic that’s been associated in the past with voter suppression. The idea is to scare people so they won’t participate in an election. Link in a statement issued by her office said that such calls serve “only to frighten and intimidate voters.”

Riviera Beach is one of 16 Palm Beach County municipalities with elections on March 12. Others include Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Lake Worth, Ocean Ridge and West Palm Beach.

Several recipients recorded the calls and reported them to the elections office, Link said.

Here’s a transcript: