A second Florida resident has been arrested in connection with alleged election fraud in Johnson County, Kansas.
Attorney General of Kansas Kris Kobach announced Tuesday that law enforcement authorities in Nebraska arrested Jamie Johnson, a 47-year-old resident of Dade City, Florida, on May 29 on charges of forging signatures on petitions seeking recognition of the No Labels political party.
The arrest comes after another Dade City resident, George Andrews, was arrested on similar charges in February. At the time, Kobach described Andrews as part of a “scheme” to place fraudulent signatures on petitions.
“As Attorney General, I am committed to prosecuting election fraud to the fullest extent of the law. It doesn’t matter how far you run. We will drag you back to Kansas and prosecute you,” Kobach, a Republican, said in a statement.
“The people of Kansas deserve the safest elections possible.”
No Labels is a political party founded in 2009 and is comparable in size to the Libertarian Party. The party was recognized as a political party in Kansas in January after filing a petition containing the signatures of registered voters equal to 2% of the total votes cast in the 2022 general gubernatorial election.
No Labels considered running a third-party presidential campaign, but ultimately decided not to nominate a candidate.
Johnson faces 18 counts of election tampering and one count of election falsification in Johnson County District Court, including one count of election tampering and 18 counts of election falsification. Andrews is charged with two counts of election perjury and 28 counts of election falsification.
Andrews also faces legal troubles in Florida. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement previously said that Andrews and another individual allegedly filed 133 invalid petitions in multiple Florida counties on Feb. 6 for an abortion rights ballot initiative. It is unclear if Johnson is the other person.
Kobach’s office said Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, reviewed the allegations against Johnson before forwarding the case to Kobach. On Tuesday, Schwab said in a statement that “my office is committed to pursuing any evidence of election crime. Kansas has strong laws to ensure the integrity of our elections, and this case shows that the process works.”
The Star’s Joseph Hernandez contributed reporting
