- September 14, 2026
Dear Editor:
Election fraud is usually considered to be the classic and familiar illegal voting of some sort. Flagler County has little if any of that. But a different kind of election “fraud” has surfaced locally over the last few years in the form of fraudulent campaign mailers, the hijacking and re-routing of campaign websites to that of an opponent, and recently the disinformation text messages sent to local voters targeting various local political candidates.
Unlike the typical individualized voter fraud, this kind of fraud is vastly more egregious and damaging because it reaches large numbers of our electorate with the real potential of influencing an election outcome. But, unlike simple voter fraud, catching those hobgoblins of disinformation is next to impossible.
In the last four years, there have been three identified instances of this kind of deceit affecting several local candidates. In 2022, a School Board candidate was trashed with false information in mass mailed fliers. In 2025, the campaign websites of two District 6 U.S. House candidates were purposely misdirected to an opponent’s campaign website. And, just a few days before this year's primary, a widespread text was sent with disinformation about three School Board candidates. For all these deceptions, the perpetrators remain unknown.
It would of course be unfair to speculate or imply any responsibility on the part of the candidates or their consultants who may have benefited from these dishonest attempts to manipulate election outcomes. All expectedly denied responsibility or any knowledge of the fraud. But will these candidates, who had campaign platforms based on integrity and faith based values, express outrage, and vigorously condemn what happened with hopes those responsible be caught? We all should.
Mary Zito
Palm Coast
