Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 11-8-16 Online Edition

Local
Nearly 50% Of Voters Cast Ballots Early
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The 14-day Early Voting period in Hillsborough County began on October 24th and ended on November 6th. During that period, nearly 250,000 individuals cast bal- lots. And more than 150,000
took advantage of the Vote- By-Mail option.
The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office said it has been “a record- breaking Early Voting period.
In the election in 2012, 171,266 voted by mail and 167,211 voted at the Early Vot- ing sites. However, during
this election, 176,505 Vote- By-Mail ballots have been re- turned to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elec- tions Office.
In addition, 242,168 people visited one of 16 sites this year. This means that nearly half (419,268) of the 849,843 registered voters in Hillsbor-
ough County have cast ballots. Early voting ended on Sun- day, November 6th. Anyone who has not voted and who plans to vote, must cast his or her ballot at his assigned vot-
ing precinct.
Voters will be required to
provide one or two forms of identification. Acceptable
identification includes: a Florida Driver’s License; Florida ID Card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; U. S. Passport; Debit or Credit Card; Military ID; Student ID; Retirement Center ID; Neigh- borhood Association ID; or Public Assistance ID.
Free Rides To Polls On Election Day
Voters in Hillsborough County will have an easy option for getting to the polls this year, courtesy of HART.
Free rides will be offered throughout the day on Tuesday, Nov. 8, on any HART bus by showing a
valid voter information
card upon boarding.
This promotion is not
valid for use of HARTPlus service or the TECO Line Streetcar System.
Patrons who present their valid voter informa- tion card will ride free to
their closest local polling lo- cation. Simply show your valid voter information card to the Bus Operator when boarding for your free ride.
Riders are encouraged to determine in advance which routes will get them to, or close to, their polling places.
Woman Pleads Guilty To ID Theft Fraud Of Refund Checks
A Tampa woman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft of govern- ment property last week. She is facing a maximum five years in federal prison.
According to court docu- ments, Ms. Melissa Hayes conspired with others to com- mit stolen identity refund fraud by depositing U. S. Treasury checks into a busi- ness bank account. She chan- neled the checks through her
restaurant account.
Once Ms. Hayes made the
deposits, she then withdrew the money the same day or the following day. Investiga- tors said she spent some of the money or transferred it to her personal bank account.
The checks were fraudu- lently endorsed with the name of the person who was the in- tended recipient and the name of Ms. Hayes’ busi- ness before they were de-
posited into the bank account. Four of the people whose names appeared on the
checks are deceased. Investigators said that be-
tween January 2012 and June 2012, Ms. Hayes deposited 22 fraudulent federal income tax checks into her bank ac- count. The checks were valued at $160,000. She then used the money for her personal use and shared it with her co- conspirators, officials said.
PAGE 12 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016