ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- A 36-year-old man has been arrested in connection to a 2016 voter fraud case in which police say mail ballots were stolen and forged.
- Man stole, forged 2016 absentee ballots, investigators say
- Bret Warren of Casselberry charged with voter fraud
- Police report: DNA, fingerprints linked Warren to ballots
Bret Warren of Casselberry, Fla., is being held on a charge of submitting false voter registration or information.
According to an Altamonte Springs Police report, several homeowners on Spring Valley Lane in October 2016 reported to authorities that their absentee ballots had been stolen from their mailboxes.
The Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Office said it had received completed ballots from the residents but urged them to fill out provisional ballots, police said.
Meanwhile, the elections office submitted the original ballots suspected of being fraudulently filled out to the FBI for investigation. Envelopes that contained the original absentee ballots were turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for DNA analysis, and the ballots were also analyzed for fingerprints.
Investigators said a fingerprint matching Warren's was recovered from the absentee ballots in August 2017. Also, last month, an FDLE report said DNA from the envelopes was linked to a profile of Warren's, police said.
When investigators went to Warren's Casselberry residence in January, they said he admitted that he used to live near the neighborhood where the absentee ballots disappeared.
Warren was booked into the Seminole County jail on the warrant and several other charges.