Florida Mother, Daughter Allegedly Hacked Accounts To Rig Homecoming Vote

A Florida mother and her daughter were arrested for allegedly accessing students' accounts without authorization to rig a homecoming election, according to WKRG on Monday (March 15).

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) claims 50-year-old Laura Rose Carroll and her 17-year-old daughter illegally accessed hundreds of FOCUS accounts to rig the homecoming queen vote at Tate High School in Pensacola. Carroll is also an assistant principal at Belleview Elementary in Pensacola, reporters learned. Investigators said the daughter is a student at Tate High School.

The investigation started in November 2020, where authorities found that Carroll had access to the school board's FOCUS program. Investigators said hundreds of votes for the high school's Homecoming Court were tagged as fraudulent in October 2020, and 117 of the votes came from the same IP address linked to Carroll's phone.

Students also reported that the daughter described using her mother's FOCUS account to cast votes. Online video and pictures show the daughter was crowned homecoming queen, as well.

"FDLE says the investigation also found Carroll FOCUS account from August of 2019 had access to 372 high school records and 339 of them were students from Tate High School," WKRG wrote.

Carroll and the daughter were charged with offense against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, criminal use of personally identified information, and conspiracy to commit these offenses. All charges are listed as third-degree felonies except the conspiracy charge, according to CNN.

Photo: Escambia County Sheriff's Office