Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed the Office of Election Crimes and Security to investigate election fraud. The state would be the first in the country to implement a police force to investigate voting irregularities.
The Republican governor said last week that the Office of Election Crimes and Security would “ensure that elections are conducted in accordance with the rule of law.” It would give the executive branch unprecedented power to investigate election fraud. This amount of power concerns voter rights advocates, local election officials, and Democrats.
According to the proposed legislation, the unit would have the power to take over other law enforcement agencies’ investigations. That’s in addition to being able to look into allegations of voter fraud on its own.
“The proposed Office of Election Crimes and Security is intended to investigate possible violations of election law and deter potential violations,” said DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw.
If approved, the office will employ 52 people, including 20 sworn police officers, CNN reports. DeSantis is asking for $5.7 million to fund the task force.
However, experts say the cost needed to fund the new office is unnecessary due to the low amounts of voter fraud. Not to mention the possible impact on voters.
“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,” said voting rights lawyer Jonathan Diaz to the Washington Post.
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