Marianna woman charged with constitutional amendment petition fraud crimes

MARIANNA, Fla. – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has charged a Marianna woman with constitutional amendment petition fraud crimes, the FDLE has announced.

The FDLE said its agents arrested Kattie McCalister, 60, of Marianna, on five felony counts of false swearing, submission of false voter information, and five misdemeanor counts of perjury when not in an official proceeding.

McCalister is accused of unlawfully using the personal identification information of five victims to submit fraudulent constitutional amendment petitions to the Jackson County Supervisor of Elections Office, the FDLE said.

According to the FDLE, the case began on December 27, 2021, after the 14th Judicial Circuit Jackson County Office of the State Attorney requested that the FDLE investigate suspected fraudulent constitutional amendment forms that had been submitted to the Jackson County Supervisor of Elections Office by McCalister.

Agents reportedly interviewed five victims who had filed complaints against McCalister after they were notified that their personal voter information might have been compromised. Each of the victims attested that they had never met McCalister, had never seen the petition, nor had they signed or permitted another person to sign for them the constitutional amendment petition forms, the FDLE said.

McCalister was employed as a paid petition circulator when she committed the offenses. Further investigation revealed that she received approximately $7,193.36 from the petition circulation company between November 2021 and January 7, 2022, the FDLE said.

She was booked into the Jackson County Jail on December 8. The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office, 14th Judicial Circuit.