‘We need to do more to ensure our elections remain secure.’
Florida will soon have a new election sheriff in town.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed SB 524, which contains numerous changes to state election laws, including setting up a police force dedicated to voter fraud and increasing the penalty for ballot harvesting to a third-degree felony.
“We just want to make sure whatever laws are on the books, that those laws are enforced,” DeSantis said shortly before signing the measure at a sports bar and restaurant in Spring Hill.
The new law sets up the Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State, the agency overseeing elections. In the budget for the next fiscal year, which DeSantis has yet to sign, lawmakers provided 15 positions and $1.1 million for the office, which will investigate reports of election irregularities.
DeSantis also highlighted a previous law passed in 2021 that banned the practice of “ballot harvesting,” prohibiting a non-family member from handling more than two mail-in ballots and tightened when drop boxes can be used by election officials. The new law increases the penalty for ballot harvesting from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.
‘We need to do more to ensure our elections remain secure.’
Florida will soon have a new election sheriff in town.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed SB 524, which contains numerous changes to state election laws, including setting up a police force dedicated to voter fraud and increasing the penalty for ballot harvesting to a third-degree felony.
“We just want to make sure whatever laws are on the books, that those laws are enforced,” DeSantis said shortly before signing the measure at a sports bar and restaurant in Spring Hill.
The new law sets up the Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State, the agency overseeing elections. In the budget for the next fiscal year, which DeSantis has yet to sign, lawmakers provided 15 positions and $1.1 million for the office, which will investigate reports of election irregularities.
DeSantis also highlighted a previous law passed in 2021 that banned the practice of “ballot harvesting,” prohibiting a non-family member from handling more than two mail-in ballots and tightened when drop boxes can be used by election officials. The new law increases the penalty for ballot harvesting from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.
Furthermore, despite Florida’s relatively smooth election process in 2020, the state should continually increase election security, DeSantis argued.
“Twenty years ago, nobody thought Florida was a prime example of how to conduct elections, but we have become a national leader by running the most secure elections in the country,” DeSantis said. “We need to do more to ensure our elections remain secure.”