Florida’s House on Wednesday approved a measure that would make the state the first to establish an election crimes and voter fraud office.
The Republican-led House passed the bill that will establish an Office of Election Crimes and Security within Florida’s Department of state comprised of 15 staff members to conduct preliminary investigations of election fraud and 10 law enforcement officers appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate election crimes.
Republican state Rep. Daniel Perez, who led the legislation through the chamber, said the investigations unit would serve as an “extra resource” for local elections supervisors.
“The more resources we have to attack the bad people, the bad actors who are committing fraud, the better for the state of Florida,” he said during floor debate.
Perez added the bill would provide a budget of about $3.7 million.
DeSantis had originally proposed a 52-member staff with a budget of $5.7 million.
The bill has faced backlash from Democrats and elections officials who find the provisions excessive, especially as DeSantis said last year that Florida passed its automatic post-election audits of the 2020 race with “flying colors.” However, many Republican-led states have seized on voter fraud after former President Donald Trump promoted unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
“It’s drastically improved from what the governor wanted, but I don’t believe we should have an elections police force at all,” Broward County elections supervisor Joe Scott told The Washington Post. “These are people who will be looking for crimes where there are none. That has the potential to intimidate a lot of voters and the organizations who try to help voters.”
The bill would also raise the penalty for anyone collecting, possessing or submitting more than two absentee ballots in addition to his or her own from a misdemeanor to a felony.
“We’re going to convict people of a felony because they helped three instead of two elderly neighbors?” Democratic state Rep. Joseph Geller asked.
It also requires elections supervisors to cull voter rolls every year instead of every two years and establishes a $1,000 fine for switching a voter’s registration without their consent.
The bill further changes the name of ballot drop boxes to “secure ballot intake stations.”
Florida’s Senate passed the legislation last week and it will head to DeSantis for his signature following Wednesday’s approval.
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Have you noticed when MSM talks about election fraud the term ‘unsubstantiated claims’ always describes the Trump campain’s questioning of the results, why? Those questioning have been denied access by either officials or the courts, the evidence has been destroyed or misplaced, all very convenient!
YET even with the PROVEN TO BE FALSE claims of russia-gate, the left STILL HAS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED THEY LIED..
“The bill has faced backlash from Democrats and elections officials who find the provisions excessive,”
Of course the Democrats don’t like this bill. It will make it harder for the Democrats to get dead people votes, illegal immigrant votes and prevent Democrats from voting multiple times.
In the past in Miami, Dade county when Democrats would lose an election, uncounted ballots would magically show up in hotel rooms or trunks of cars and the Democrats would demand that they be counted. Nobody ever could explain why all of these uncounted votes were only for the Democrats.
“The bill has faced backlash from Democrats and elections officials who find the provisions excessive, especially as DeSantis said last year that Florida passed its automatic post-election audits of the 2020 race with “flying colors.” ,,,Which is why DEMOCRATs lost that election. “Excessive” to a Democrat means you need to produce a valid ID to prove you can legally vote. Illegal to a Democrat equals legal, just as bad to them equals good, and social failure equals success.
Of course it will face backlash. IF NOT FOR FRAUD DEMS couldn’t win any election!
Every state in the Union needs to follow suit.
EVERY STATE should already Have HAD LAWS like this existing, AND AN ENFORCEMENT ARM that had the tools and POWER To enforce them.
Go DeSantis. Voter fraud will be a felony under this bill. Let those rotten Democrats who support voter fraud rot in a jail, as traitors to our Country.
i will bet the feds will over ride this.
I can certainly see places like CA, NY and the like, SUING Florida over it.. BUT WHERE IS THEIR STANDING To do so?!