INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — In what she says was an “abundance of caution,” Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem filed a complaint against County Commission candidate Charlie Wilson claiming hundreds of petitions his campaign turned in appeared to be fraudulent.Clem said once the suspicion was raised about petitions appearing to have been signed by the same hand and containing birth dates and addresses that do not match names on file, she had to turn the case over to the state or she could face prosecution herself.
“I did it out of an abundance of caution,” she said.
Clem said Friday that even with the petitions in question being thrown out, Wilson has since submitted enough valid signatures that on April 29 he was certified to run for the Indian River County Commission District 2 seat. Clem certified Wilson had submitted 906 qualified signatures, five over the required 901.However, in her complaint filed with the Florida Division of Elections on April 1, Clem states:”It appears that the vast majority of them (the petitions in question) have incorrect birth dates and the signatures do not match our voter records. Further, it appears the same person is signing all the petitions. The signatures resemble the candidate’s signature. One of the petitions is signed by a dead person.”Wilson does not deny that some petitions his campaign turned in contained incorrect information, but he denies any personal involvement and categorically denies there is any resemblance to his signature and the ones found on the tainted petitions.”In the first place, I am not that stupid,” Wilson said.In a letter to Clem dated May 5, Wilson said he welcomes an investigation and offered his full cooperation.”I pledge my personal support and the cooperation of everyone that has anything to do with the Wilson Campaign,” he wrote. “The Wilson Campaign continues to demand a complete investigation preferably by a neutral party such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and prosecution if warranted.”The case has been turned over to the FDLE and Wilson has met with local investigators on the matter. The case remains under investigation.
FDLE spokesman Michael Morrison said they are working on a preliminary investigation but could not say how long it would take to release the findings.Wilson will square off in the Republican primary on Aug. 24 against incumbent Joe Flescher and challenger Dale Simchick. The winner will face Democrat David Snell and Independent Carolyn Corum in the general election on Nov. 2.