Speaking to state legislators as they opened their annual 60-day session last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) introduced a first-of-its-kind proposal to improve election security: a special police force tasked with monitoring elections.
The so-called Office of Election Crimes and Security would “investigate, detect, apprehend, and arrest anyone for an alleged violation” of voter laws, explained DeSantis, who has asked lawmakers to provide nearly $6 million to fund the new agency in addition to $1.1 million to establish 8 new positions in other departments to address election crimes. DeSantis has been hesitant to call on local election officials and prosecutors to investigate election crimes as many of these individuals lack the expertise or the desire to do so.
The Office of Election Crimes and Security would consist of 52 individuals (including 20 sworn law enforcement officers) stationed at “field offices” throughout the state of Florida. Members of the agency would act on “tips” from government officials as well as civilians.
The governor’s proposal also includes a ban on ranked voting, a new deadline for determining voter eligibility, and new rules for the reporting of felony convictions to election supervisors.
“To ensure that elections are conducted in accordance with the rule of law, I propose an election integrity unit whose sole focus will be the enforcement of Florida’s election laws,” DeSantis told lawmakers. “This will facilitate the faithful enforcement of election laws and will provide Floridians with the confidence that their vote will matter.”
The proposal was met with mixed reviews from Republicans and with firm opposition from Democrats, with the latter group seeking to ease voter restrictions across the board.
“There’s a reason that there’s no office of this size with this kind of unlimited investigative authority in any other state in the country, and it’s because election crimes and voter fraud are just not a problem of that magnitude,” argues voting rights lawyer Jonathan Diaz. “My number one concern is that this is going to be used as a tool to harass or intimidate civic-engagement organizations and voters.”
Others fear partisan and executive overreach from Governor DeSantis, given the fact that the special police force would report directly to him and he will be running for reelection later this year.
“It seems as if this is going to focus on a lot of grassroots organizations that are out there trying to get people registered to vote, as well as people out there doing petition drives,” warned Joe Scott, Supervisor of Elections in Broward County. “I think this is going to lead to people being intimidated if they’re civically involved. I don’t want people to be scared away from doing those kinds of things.”
Governor DeSantis, widely seen as a possible candidate in the 2024 presidential election, has made election security his focus following the contentious 2020 election some believe was “stolen” from Donald Trump.
DeSantis signed a bill last year designed to curb some of the allowances offered to voters during the pandemic regarding absentee voting, mail-in voting, and the use of ballot drop boxes. That law has been challenged by voting rights advocates who view it as disadvantageous to disabled, elderly, and minority voters. A trial is scheduled to begin later this month.
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To date, no state legislators have agreed to sponsor the governor’s proposal for a special police force to oversee elections and the House Public Integrity & Election Committee has yet to set a hearing to discuss the proposal.
“We’re going to look at it, we’ll evaluate it and see what happens,” said House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R).
Governor DeSantis is also pressuring state legislators to up the penalty for violating new rules regarding mail-in ballots and establish a 100-day deadline for local officials to remove deceased individuals from voter rolls. In the meantime, some Republicans continue to demand a “forensic audit” of the 2020 presidential election in Florida despite Trump’s victory over Biden.
Florida resident and Trump ally Roger Stone has even threatened to run against DeSantis in this year’s election as a libertarian candidate if he fails to order an audit and hand recount of the 2020 election.
Author’s Note: DeSantis has good intentions here, but an agency of this kind could be easily corrupted. The devil’s in the details.
Sources:
Florida governor proposes special police agency to monitor elections
DeSantis calls for new Florida police force to go after election crimes