A Florida man accused of voting illegally asks, “What did I do wrong?”

fort lauderdale – CBS4 spoke with one of those arrested last month accused of voting illegally.

The day the police came to arrest 71-year-old Nathaniel Singleton at a relative’s house, he was still at work when he got a call about the cops coming looking for him. “The police are out in the yard, they pull out their guns and they come out and they know you’re there,” he told CBS4.

To his surprise, it’s been two years since he voted in the 2020 election, and freedoms and civic duties aren’t something Singleton takes lightly.

“I am a convicted felon, and this happened because of the choices I made, but this is something. I wouldn’t have,” he explained.

He showed CBS4 his voter card. This card was issued in 2019.

“I was not going to vote illegally because the Department of Corrections told me in the pre-release program that my rights would automatically be reinstated once I served my sentence.”

Singleton served more than 12 years in prison, then 12 years on probation for second-degree murder. All this time he looked forward to raising his voice again.

“We need someone in the office to help the middle class because we are a minority in the United States, there are so many starving people, and the rent is too high to pay,” he said.

Of all the places he signed up for, he went to the supervisor of the election office in Broward. “And if I was going to vote illegally, I would never have gone to the elections official’s office,” Singleton shared.

What no one mentioned, he said, was that people convicted of murder or sex crimes had to appeal to have their voting rights restored.

He told CBS4 days before his arrest that he had explained this to his FDLE agent and didn’t think it would lead to new charges. “I can’t afford a lawyer and I’m half homeless now.”

So he needs help, a private attorney rather than a public defense attorney because he’s afraid they’ll try to work with the state to broker a plea bargain when he wants to maintain his innocence. He explained that he wanted

“Nineteen other people were arrested, all of whom said they had voter cards.”