A Miami-Dade mayoral candidate filed a lawsuit on Monday against incumbent Daniella Levine Cava and election officials, alleging they manipulated ballot positioning by altering her surname on the Candidate Oath form.

A candidate for Miami-Dade County mayor filed a lawsuit against the county and its election officials on Monday, accusing them of manipulating ballots in favor of incumbent candidate Daniella Levine Cava.

The lawsuit, filed by Shlomo Danzinger, contends that Levine Cava filed a Candidate Oath on the morning of May 23 that listed her name as “Daniella Levine Cava” and included a checkmark indicating she has two last names without a hyphen. Later that day, she filed a second Candidate Oath, leaving the box unchecked, which the lawsuit claims was done to alter her surname on the ballot to “Cava,” thus ensuring she would appear first on the ballot due to the alphabetical listing of candidates. Prior to the second filing, the order of candidate names would place Levine Cava fourth.

Danzinger argues in the complaint that the change was a deliberate attempt to manipulate ballot positioning, providing Levine Cava with an advantage known as the “ballot order effect,” which suggests that candidates listed first on the ballot can receive a boost in votes simply due to their position.

“Levine Cava violated [Florida statute] because her legal surname is “Levine Cava” but she filed the Second Candidate Oath such that her last name is “Cava” to fraudulently gain an illegal advantage to appear first in the list of candidates,” reads the lawsuit.

Danzinger’s lawsuit cites violations of Florida election laws, including statutes that require candidates to use their legal surname on the ballot and to accurately reflect their name in the Candidate Oath. The lawsuit also claims that Levine Cava’s second filing did not comply with administrative rules regarding how candidates with two last names should appear on the ballot.

“Florida law mandates that candidates are listed on the ballot for this type of election alphabetically in the order of their surname, and requires a candidate’s legal surname to be listed on the ballot,” Danzinger’s complaint states. “When Levine Cava filed the Second Candidate Oath, she did not file any other additional documents or financials required to qualify as a candidate. For example, she issued only one cashier’s check to run for Mayor of Miami-Dade County, which was filed with the First Candidate Oath.”

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that Levine Cava was possibly assisted by Miami-Dade County election officials, specifically Christina White, the Supervisor of Elections, in filing the second Candidate Oath. According to the complaint, a whistleblower within the Elections Department reportedly claimed that White directed Levine Cava to submit a revised oath that left out the indication of her dual last names.

“Levine Cava knowingly and willfully, and possibly with the help of Defendant White, changed the order on which she will appear on the ballot on Election Day so that she can gain an advantage in violation of Florida law,” the complaint asserts.

The Plaintiff is seeking an immediate ruling from the court declaring that Levine Cava is not a qualified candidate due to her failure to comply with the legal requirements and prevent any votes cast for her from being counted.

An attempt to reach Levine Cava’s office was not immediately responded to.