WHO'S IMPERSONATING DENT?
Official mail from the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections has the return address as shown. File photo
A HANDFUL OF SARASOTA COUNTY PEOPLE REPORTING THEY RECEIVED MAILING SAYING THEY HAVE BEEN FLAGGED AS ILLEGAL VOTERS
By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor
Get something in the mail lately from Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent? Might want to double-check what it is.
The supervisor's office says it has heard com- plaints from a handful of Sarasota County res- idents about a new mailing telling them they have been flagged as illegal voters.
"It has been brought to our attention that some Sarasota County voters have received a letter questioning their citizenship status and eligibility to vote from an entity that is not the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections," Dent said in a statement released Monday. "I want to make all Sarasota County voters
aware that this mailing did not come from my office."
The letter appears to be part of an ugly state- wide trend. Florida Division of Elections spokesman Chris Cate told The Tampa Bay Times that his office has heard "multiple re- ports" of a fake letter like the one sent to Sara- sota County voters.
The Times reported that the letters targeted Republicans, but Dent's assistant, Joyce Sol- tis, tells the News Leader the Sarasota office has also heard from voters registered with no party. The letters were postmarked in Seattle, WA.
