A Sham

Published: March 22, 2021, 4:15 a.m.

Turns out Republicans who complained about voter fraud in last year's election were right … but it was one of their own behind it. Democrats call for a do-over after a GOP operative and former state lawmaker was charged with financing a sham candidate in Senate District 37 to siphon votes away from the Democrat.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— The House Public Integrity and Elections Committee takes up a bill that’s being sold as a fraud-prevention measure but doesn't do a thing about sham candidates. All it does is make it harder to vote by mail, the method often preferred by Democrats.

— Gov. Ron DeSantis says more than 70% of Florida seniors have now been vaccinated for COVID-19, so he's lowering the age to get a shot. As of today, anyone 50 and over can sign up.

— Florida reached another milestone in the COVID-19 crisis over the weekend as the number of cases passed the 2 million mark, one of every 10 Floridians.

— House and Senate leaders agreed on a bill to provide businesses and health care entities with protection from COVID-19 liability lawsuits, and the bill could be on its way to the Governor by the end of the week. But there's another group asking for legal protection for an entirely different reason: Urban Search and Rescue Structures Specialists who volunteer to enter collapsed or partially collapsed buildings first to help clear a path to help first responders get to victims.

— The problem is liability lawsuits; Allen Douglas, head of the Florida Engineering Society, says these volunteer engineers deserve the same sort of protection enjoyed by good Samaritans.

— And finally, two Florida Couples who ran afoul of the law. One is accused of letting students smoke weed at their home; the other pair was caught with lamb and seafood stuffed in their pants at Costco.