LEE COUNTY, FL — She received a voter card. She cast a ballot. Now, Astrid Navarrete Quintana of Fort Myers is in jail, facing a voting charge under a Florida law that did not exist when she voted.
And she's not the only one.
An I-Team review of charging documents for 12 defendants publicly identified in Florida’s latest voter fraud crackdown found eight facing the same newer offense for votes allegedly cast before the law took effect.
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Noncitizen voting was already illegal. The question is why prosecutors are using the newer law, which differs from the earlier statute in what the state must prove and which defenses it expressly prohibits.
A voter card and a criminal case
Quintana is a legal permanent resident, the mother of a 2-year-old and the wife of an American citizen who served in the Army, according to her attorney, Connor Martin with Suarez, Rios & Weinberg PA in Lee County.
Martin said Quintant moved to the United States as a toddler and had no criminal history until this recent arrest. Today, the young mon remains in the Lee County jail after turning herself in on an arrest warrant back in August.
“Not well. Not well,” Martin said when asked how she was doing. “She’s going through a very traumatic time at the moment.”
While permanent residency allows Quintana to live in the United States, it does not make her eligible to vote. But Martin said she believed she could vote, particularly after receiving a voter ID card from the state.
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“She got a voter registration card mailed to her home address with her name on it,” he said.
Quintana faces two felony charges: voting as an unqualified non-citizen and falsely affirming citizenship when she registered to vote. She's pleaded not guilty.
“She had no intention to deceive anybody or to do anything that she believed was illegal,” Martin said. “That’s not who she is.”
Martin is pointing to two dates, he believes, are at the center of Quintana's.
According to her arrest warrant, Quintana voted on Nov. 5, 2024.
But the law cited in her voting charge, Florida Statute 104.155, took effect on Feb. 13, 2025, more than three months later.
Martin has filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss that count, arguing that the state cannot apply the later-created offense to her earlier conduct.
While non-citizen voting was already illegal, the older version of the statute, Section 104.15, expressly requires that a person know they are not a qualified voter and willfully vote.
The newer statute does not include that same knowledge-of-ineligibility requirement. It also bars a defense based on a person's mistaken believe about their citizenship status.
The I-Team asked Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office why defendants were being charged under a law enacted after their alleged conduct. A spokesperson said the cases remain under investigation but did not answer our specific question. The cases are being prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution.
Martin’s motion challenges only Quintana’s voting count. It does not seek dismissal of her separate false-affirmation charge.
Another crackdown before an election
At a Sept. 24 press conference, Uthmeier announced this recent voting fraud operation that targeted 20 people. Twelve, including Quintana, were already in custody or were in the process of being arrested at that point. The Attorney General’s office identified 16 defendants as noncitizens and four as people with felony convictions who allegedly voted while on probation.
“Every illegal vote that should not be there hurts the votes of lawful American citizens,” Uthmeier said his annoucement about the recen arrests.
The press conference came less than six weeks before the midterm elections. Uthmeier, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is seeking his first elected term.
Florida’s earlier, widely publicized sweep was announced in August 2022, just days before the primary election. It targeted 20 people accused of voting despite disqualifying murder or felony sexual-offense convictions. Those cases involved different eligibility issues from the noncitizen allegations against Quintana.
Outcomes varied in those cases with several charges dropped or reduced down, no contest pleas and a conviction that was, ultimately, overturned because an appellate judge determined the statewide prosecutor lacked authority to bring the case.
A family facing another uncertainty
For Quintana, the consequences of her recent arrest extend beyond the criminal charges she's facing.
Court records show an immigration detainer has been placed on her by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Martin said the family has held off on posting bond, fearing she could be transferred into ICE custody while her criminal case remains unresolved.
Meantime, her husband is caring for their only child with help from family and community members, Martin said.
"This is not the situation that people think of when they think of an illegal alien voting," said Martin. “We have a child without a mother, a husband without his wife,” he said.
Quintana's family has established a fundraiser to help pay immigration attorney fees. For more information click: Family GoFundMe: Support Astrid’s Fight to Stay Home
