Jeb Bush identified himself as "Hispanic" on 2009 voter form: report

U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush identified himself as "Hispanic" on a 2009 voter registration form, according to U.S. media report.

According to the New York Times, Bush, who speaks Spanish fluently, chose "Hispanic" in the "race/ethnicity field" when filling in his voter-registration application.

Shortly after the anecdote was reported by the media, Bush's youngest son Jeb Jr. joked about the story on Twitter: "LOL - come on dad, think you checked the wrong box #HonoraryLatino."

Bush immediately retweeted his story's tweet, adding that "My mistake! Don't think I've fooled anyone!"

"It's unclear where the paperwork error was made," said a statement issued by the Bush camp. "The Governor's family certainly got a good laugh out of it. He is not Hispanic."

Democrats, however, quickly targeted their criticism at Bush, with the Florida Democratic Party warning of a possible felony charge of submitting false information. Legal experts said without evidence that Bush had intended to deceive, he was unlikely to face any charge.

Bush, the son of the 41th U.S. President George Bush and brother of the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush, was born in Texas and a former governor of Florida. Both Texas and Florida boast large Hispanic populations. Bush announced last December he would explore the possibility of a 2016 presidency bid and is expected to announce his launch this summer. Endite