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Florida disputes Trump assertion about dishonest voting

Donald Trump
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida election officials on Saturday pushed back against assertions by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that there was "dishonest early voting" going on in the state.

Trump said on Twitter that his campaign was asking law enforcement to look into problems with early voting, but Meredith Beatrice, speaking for Florida's secretary of state, said election officials had not heard of any such problems and had received no formal complaints.

Trump, the GOP front-runner, also said on Twitter that he had heard that some Republicans may be trying to "rig the vote" for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in Tuesday's big presidential primaries. His campaign has not provided any examples of dishonest voting.

Wadi Gatan, a spokesman for the Florida Republican Party, said the party also was unaware of early-voting irregularities.

The outcome of Florida's winner-take-all primary is crucial for Rubio's prospects for staying in the 2016 race.

Early voting in Florida started Feb. 29. Most counties had early voting sites open from March 5 until Saturday; nine counties hold early voting Sunday, including Rubio's home county of Miami-Dade.

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