A Florida man who voted in the 2024 presidential election while on felony probation now faces two felony charges, a year after casting what he believed was his lawful first vote. Jared Janacek, 33, of Boca Raton, maintains he did not knowingly violate the law and is willing to contest the charges.
Janacek, a home improvement contractor, was convicted in 2023 for felony possession of a controlled substance after police found psilocybin mushrooms in his car. He was sentenced to four years of probation. While on this probation, he registered to vote and cast a ballot for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
He stated that his research into Florida's felon voting laws, including a query to ChatGPT, indicated that felons were allowed to vote as of an 2018 amendment. Janacek claimed he was unaware of the specific exceptions or the legal nuances following the amendment. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections issued him a voter registration card, and he presented it at his polling place without issue.
It wasn't until after the election that he learned his ballot was declared invalid. In December 2025, he was confronted by a detective with evidence of voter fraud, and in February 2026, he was arrested at his home. Janacek faces charges of unqualified elector willfully voting and false affirmation of oath, each carrying a potential jail sentence of up to one year.
Authorities point to a document Janacek signed in December 2023, which they say clearly stated his ineligibility to vote while on felony probation. Janacek, however, asserts he did not notice or understand that particular paragraph within the lengthy probation packet, and claims his probation officer indicated no issue with him voting. "I just feel like I really got entrapped in this situation," Janacek told the Daily Mail. "I was an outstanding citizen. Yeah, I've made mistakes in my past. But I've done all I can to change my life around and do the right thing. And now they want to give me a whole year in jail. It just seems insane."
Voting rights advocates have criticized Florida's system for creating confusion among voters and leading to what they call politicized prosecutions. In 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his election crimes unit had arrested 20 individuals with felony convictions for voter fraud. Critics argue that many of these individuals, like Janacek, believed they were eligible to vote.
Craig Trocino, director of the Miami Law Innocence Clinic at the University of Miami, noted that proving intent is the state's greatest challenge in cases like Janacek's. He suggested that individuals who receive voter registration cards after attempting to register might reasonably assume their eligibility. "If the state is going to want to enforce these laws," Trocino stated, "they ought to look at the data they're getting before they just rubber stamp and ship off a voter registration card to people when they may or may not be able to vote."
Janacek is scheduled for trial in the fall and has indicated he would prefer to go to trial rather than plead guilty to knowingly committing voter fraud, aiming to be a catalyst for potential system changes for other former felons. The State Attorney General's Office declined to comment due to the pending court case.