Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law on Monday creating a law enforcement unit to protect election integrity and increase penalties for certain voting violations.
“I don’t think there’s any place in the country where you should have more confidence that your vote counts than in the State of Florida,’ DeSantis said at the bill’s signing.
Florida Senate Bill 524 created the Office of Election Crimes and Security under Florida’s State Department. The newly created office is allowed to review allegations of voter fraud and conduct preliminary investigations into the allegations.
Before this law, Florida’s governor could appoint officers to investigate alleged violations of state election law. According to the AP, it is now mandatory for the governor to select a group of special officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to handle election law violations.
The law also designated ballot harvesting as a third-degree felony, increased fines for certain election law violations, and mandated more frequent maintenance of the state’s voter list.
DeSantis said a dedicated law enforcement unit is necessary because some members of the police force “may not care as much about the election stuff.”
“Some of them may not care as much about the election stuff. I think it’s been mixed at how those reactions are going to be. So we just want to make sure whatever laws are on the books, that those laws are enforced,” he said.
The new Florida law comes as DeSantis and other Republicans nationwide are focused on securing election integrity following claims that the 2020 presidential election was ripe with voter fraud. It also comes after U.S. District Judge Mark Walker struck down a Florida law that would have limited the times individuals could submit their ballots at drop boxes.