A man convicted in 2020 of felony aggravated stalking in Flagler County is now accused of voter fraud during 2024 presidential primary, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement affidavit.
James Cabreo Amaral, 35, was charged with unqualified elector willfully voting (Convicted felon voting) and false affirmation of oath, both felonies.
Amaral was accused of voting in the 2024 Presidential Primary in Flagler County even though he was ineligible to vote due to his felony stalking conviction, according to the affidavit. Amaral was in the Flagler County jail when he sent his mail in ballot, according to records.
Each charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
An FDLE agent spoke with Amaral at the Liberty Correctional Institution in Bristol, Aug. 6, 2025. During the interview, Amaral confirmed that he had been convicted of a felony.
The agent told Amaral that he had voted during the 2024 presidential primary election. The agent then began looking up the date that Amaral cast his vote.
As the agent looked up the date, “Amaral laughed and asked, ‘they caught it?'” according to the affidavit.
Amaral then invoked his right to a lawyer.
The charges were filed by the statewide prosecutor’s office.
Flagler has inmate voting program
Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart wrote in an email that her office has “an inmate voting program that allows incarcerated citizens the opportunity to vote during an election.”
She wrote that on average 10 or fewer inmates vote by mail during each election.
“These requests are handled with special care to ensure the inmates are eligible voters in Flagler County. We did not receive information from the Division of Elections concerning this voter’s potential ineligibility due to a felony conviction until August 2024. The Presidential Preference Primary was held in March 2024,” Lenhart wrote.
Research shows voting fraud minute
Research shows U.S. elections have only a minute amount of fraud and that illegal voting that does not change outcomes, according to a USAToday story. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found only 3 votes out of every 1 million cast were fraudulent.
Convicted felon faces voter fraud charge
Amaral also goes by the alias of James Hoehn, according to records.
Amaral was being held in the Flagler County jail.
Amaral was convicted Nov. 2, 2020, of aggravated stalking after injunctions, a felony. Amaral was sentenced to 364 days in the Flagler County jail followed by 48 months of probation, according to the FDLE affidavit.
He appeared to have registered to vote in Florida at the Department of Motor Vehicles on July 13, 2020, according to the affidavit. The registration was listed as incomplete. Amaral updated that registration on July 27, 2020.
He was arrested Oct. 26, 2023, for violating the terms of his felony probation.
The Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Office received a vote-by-mail request from Amaral on March 8, 2024, for the 2024 presidential primary. Amaral was receiving his mail at the Flagler County jail, according to the vote-by-mail request.
The Supervisor of Elections office received Amaral’s vote-by-mail ballot on March 16, 2024. It was signed and dated the previous day.
On May 7, 2024, Amaral was sentenced to 49.35 months in state prison for violating felony probation.
Amaral was served the warrant on the voting fraud charge at the Flagler County inmate facility on Feb. 27, according to court records.
Amaral is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on March 24 in Flagler County court.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler County convict accused of voter fraud in presidential primary
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
