Bruce, 20, says he voted in a precinct outside city limits in August, using a former address.

State voting records show that Gainesville mayoral candidate Marlon Bruce voted in the Democratic primary for a district he said he didn’t live in, while simultaneously working on that district’s Republican representative’s campaign.

Bruce, 20, told The Sun on Tuesday that he knowingly voted in a precinct outside city limits in August, using an address he no longer lived at because he was unable to change his address. However, poll officials can update an address even on election day.

Wednesday, he said it was election officials who sent him to the wrong polling location.

“I don’t think it could be voter fraud if that's where I was sent,” Bruce said.

Bruce acknowledged the voting issue was problematic. If he lived at the address outside city limits when he voted, he wouldn’t meet the city’s six-month residency requirement to run for mayor. If he didn't live there, he could face legal trouble. Under Florida law, affirming and submitting false voter information is a third-degree felony.

Bruce said Wednesday that he believes he is qualified.

“Unless the city tells me anything different, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” he said.

Leading up to the primary, Bruce worked on the campaign team for state Rep. Clemons, R-Newberry, who represents District 21. Bruce was a registered Democrat, according to state voting records, and voted in Precinct 62, which falls within District 21 and outside city limits.

Bruce’s ballot would have allowed him to choose between Clemons’ Democratic challengers — Jason Haeseler or Amol Jethwani. He said he voted for Jethwani. Bruce said he voted at the wrong location at the direction of poll workers.

TJ Pyche, the director of outreach for the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections, said voters aren’t intentionally sent to wrong locations and that people are asked if they need to update any of their information before voting.

After the primary, Bruce updated his voter registration to reflect his new address, and changed his party affiliation to Republican. The change also placed him outside Clemons’ District 21.

Bruce said his political philosophy changed during the campaign and said he hopes to be a candidate for everyone in March, as city races are nonpartisan.

The Santa Fe College student touts his experience with Clemons’ campaign and in student government, though Bruce was indefinitely suspended from his student senatorial seat after an investigative report.

The 2018 report found that Bruce wasn’t a student during a time he served as club senator for Young Americans for Liberty and was candidate for attorney general. Bruce said Wednesday that he didn't take classes during the summer, but was still a student.

During the investigation by the student government Senate Oversight Committee and a Santa Fe College faculty adviser, Bruce wouldn't answer questions and threatened to sue for harassment. He later resigned from his role as attorney general.

“The report was created by people who didn't like me,” he said. “It was generated to harm me for this very race. I personally took it with a grain of salt. … To put it plainly, it was a hit piece...”

The report found he “intentionally” subverted representation of the student body. It recommended he be censured and suspended from serving as an officer for student organizations and banned from all student government-funded activities.