(JustPatriots.com)- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved the formation of a police unit to combat voter fraud. The state’s Republican party leader originally suggested a similar unit following the 2020 presidential election.
According to DeSantis, he doesn’t think there’s any other area in the country where you should have greater faith that your vote matters than in the state of Florida.
DeSantis made the statement Monday during a bill signing ceremony.
The law will create an “Office of Election Crimes and Security” under the Florida Department of State. It will use an extra team of detectives from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to combat election-related crimes. There will be around 25 new posts created across the two organizations.
An amendment to the law will make the practice of “ballot harvesting” a felony and require election overseers to undertake annual screenings of voter lists to check for individuals who are no longer eligible to vote once a year.
Democrats were vocal in their opposition to establishing a new election police force, claiming it was unnecessary.
Yvonne Hayes Hinson, a Democratic state representative from Miami, said that even the governor stated that Florida’s 2020 election was secure.
She believes this new election crime task force has been formed to deal with an issue that doesn’t exist. She feels its adoption will erect more hurdles to voting, and it will specifically target people of color. Workers, families and ordinary people will be intimidated and immobilized as a result of this bullying approach.
A measure signed by DeSantis and Republican members of the state legislature in the wake of the 2020 elections barred the use of outside grant financing for local election offices. It tightened the rules governing the state’s vote-by-mail system.
