Attorneys are calling for a new election in the Town of Eatonville as part of a lawsuit alleging the current mayor, Anthony Grant, committed fraud.
The attorneys for former Mayor Bruce Mount claim Grant bribed tenants in his rental properties to vote for him, accounting for a huge bump in absentee voting ballots that pushed Grant toward a win.
Last week Grant said the allegations were not true.
"I have receipts months before the election and during the election and I’ve got receipts after the election and they don’t change,” said Mayor Grant.
Attorney Jacob Stuart Jr., however, said he has witnesses that can testify against Grant in court. It's the first time lawyers for Mount have talked about the case.
“That they were bribed for their votes," Stuart said. "That rents were, I guess they were given benefits for living in certain places and they were forced to do it because of their landlord being Anthony Grant.”
Stuart said he will be asking for a new election and alleges what he calls anomalies with absentee ballots, saying former Mayor Mount should be declared the winner.
“Our predicate is he won the actual ballot on the day of the election. He won early voting," Stuart said. "Then there is this Delta, this statistical anomaly as we call it that is so gross it leads us to believe that, but for fraud and corruption or gross misconduct, Mayor Mount would have won the absentee.”
There is a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation currently underway focused on Mayor Grant. But FDLE officials will not confirm why.