DeSantis calls for new Florida police force to go after election crimes

Source: Politico | November 3, 2021 | Gary Fineout

Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed on Wednesday to create a fully-staffed statewide law-enforcement office whose sole job would be to crack down on election crimes despite previously praising Florida’s smooth 2020 elections and rebuffing calls by members of his own party for an audit,

DeSantis, who is running for reelection and is considered a potential 2024 presidential contender, is also pressing state lawmakers to increase the criminal penalty for violating new restrictions on collecting mail-in ballots. He also wants to enact new deadlines on when local election officials must scrub their voter rolls for people who had died or moved.

“I guarantee you this: The first person that gets caught, no one is going to want to do it again after that,” said DeSantis at a West Palm Beach event billed as a “press conference” but featured dozens of DeSantis supporters who loudly applauded the governor. At one point, the crowd cheered “Let’s go Brandon” — a conservative rallying cry against President Joe Biden.

The governor also said he wants the GOP-controlled Legislature to put additional restrictions on the use of drop boxes.

“I don’t even think we should have drop boxes,” said DeSantis even though he signed the bill two years ago that first authorized their use in the state.

The Republican governor’s push comes just months after he successfully got state legislators to enact a controversial new voting law that adds new restrictions on the collection of mail-in ballots including a clampdown on when and where drop boxes could be located. It also comes as some Republicans in the state, echoing former President Donald Trump’s baseless election fraud claims, are pushing for an audit of the 2020 election over DeSantis’ objections.

That new election law has drawn multiple federal lawsuits from civil rights and voting rights groups who contend those restrictions unfairly discriminate against elderly voters, voters with disabilities and minority voters. These additional proposals could throw another hot-button issue into an upcoming regular session where Florida legislators will be working on redistricting, abortion restrictions and another battle with tech companies over data privacy. The session starts in January.

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  • Consistent #50644

    EVERYDAY #50650

    No crimes, but there has to be a special police force to investigate them anyway.

    Trumpies are getting more and more unhinged. They have to be stopped.

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