In the latest battle over Florida’s elections system, lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that would make a series of changes, including creating a state office to investigate voting irregularities.
The Republican-controlled House voted 76-41 along straight party lines to pass the bill, which was approved last week by the Senate. It is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has called for such changes.
Fueled by former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, Republicans across the country have sought to revamp election laws to address what they contend is fraud. Florida lawmakers also passed a measure last year that included revising laws about mail-in voting — drawing constitutional challenges that are pending in federal court.
The debate Wednesday echoed arguments that have raged for more than a year, with Republicans saying elections need to be as secure as possible and Democrats contending that the changes are aimed at making it harder to vote.
“Voter fraud is real,” said Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican who is a former chairman of the state GOP. “Voter suppression is not.”
But Democrats said there is not evidence of widespread fraud in the state and that the bill would suppress voting.
“This bill is the antithesis of freedom,” Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said. “This bill is the antithesis of democracy.”
In part, the bill would create an Office of Election Crimes and Security in the Department of State. Also, it would require the governor, working with the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to appoint special FDLE officers to investigate allegations of election violations, with at least one officer in each region of the state.
The bill also would ratchet up financial and criminal penalties for violating elections laws, such as what has become known as “ballot harvesting,” which can include collecting and delivering vote-by-mail ballots for multiple people. The penalty for ballot harvesting would increase from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.
p
Another part of the bill would require county supervisors of elections to annually scour voter rolls for potentially ineligible voters in a process known as “list maintenance.” Under current law, supervisors are required to do list maintenance every other year.
Also, the bill would require the secretary of state to submit by Jan. 1 a plan to “prescribe the use of a Florida driver license number, Florida identification card number, Social Security number, or any part thereof to confirm the identity of each elector returning a vote-by-mail ballot.” That part of the bill was scaled back after an early version would have required people to use an additional envelope for mail-in ballots and include the last four digits of their driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers or state identification numbers — a proposal that critics said would be confusing to voters.
The debate Wednesday repeatedly touched on Florida’s successful 2020 elections. Democrats said the success demonstrated the proposed changes aren’t needed, while Republicans said the state continued to need to make improvements in 2021 and this year to prevent future fraud.
“This year’s bill ups that insurance policy,” Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
But Rep. Kamia Brown, D-Ocoee, likened the bill to past efforts to use law enforcement to intimidate Black voters.
“People who look like me have seen this time and time again,” Brown, who is Black, said.
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida
FlaglerLive relies on a strong core of donors. But they’re just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who daily depend on FlaglerLive for reliable, fearless reporting and analysis you cannot get anywhere else. If you’re still on the sidelines, we need you to join the Friends of FlaglerLive today. Elections, storms, the latest catastrophe - when dependable and factual local reporting will be more essential than ever, take a stand for integrity and have a direct voice in fostering serious journalism in your community. As little as $10 makes a difference, or better still, become a monthly donor: Become a "Friend of" FlaglerLive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible. Think of it as buying a "scoop", in every sense of the term!
Reader Interactions
Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Lucy says
When do we start having to bow to King DeSantis. Can’t the Republican Party see how he is taking our freedoms from us.
Fredrick says
How exactly are your freedoms being taken from us? Please be specific.
Alonzo says
DeSantis said, I believe. He said the election was smooth in Fla. during the 2020 election. Why the police election force. When I was a little boy, I heard the old men say if isn’t broke don’t fix it. Don’t understand DeSantis. He will not get my vote.
Deborah Coffey says
No, Republicans can’t see that because they don’t want to see it. And, since it has only been Republicans committing voter fraud in the last few elections in Florida, it might be fun watching them all getting arrested by the new fascist police force…unless DeSantis covers it all up, like he did with all the Covid deaths in our state.
tulip says
This is totally insane! I think desantis has other reasons for having the so called election police put in place. Gee, he bragged about how well our elections go, and they do. Why on earth would desantis want to have a huge money budget to pay election police to work a month every 2 years and not come up with any real fraud?!!! It’s like he wants his own security force that he can boss around without having to ask the president and this is the way to get it. And yet all the trump and desantis people will vote them and others into office despite the fact that their freedoms are being taken away before their eyes.
Mark says
DUH-Santis’ private Gestapo, guarantee this will bite him later on.
Susan says
DeathSantis knows how each and everyday how to lose more votes for himself and it won’t be any election fraud it will be because the people of Florida don’t want to live under his dictatorship.
Jonathan says
DeSantis is so paranoid like the rest of the Cult Trump party they know they are losing votes every time they preach more and more lies that they now have to come up with a expense for the State of Florida to watch over the few votes they may get and hope they will win. DeSantis has been listening to Donald so long he now believes or the propaganda Donald has handed him over the past five years. He hasn’t figured out he would get plenty of votes if he would stop acting like Donald and being a down to earth honest person. Ain’t going to happen, so he will lose like Donald did.
MikeM says
What is wrong when ultimately verifying one eligble resident gets one vote?
I do not see an issue here. We are in the 21st century . Everybody that has an ID gets to vote and every resident in Florida has to have one. Special arrangements are always made for the elderly and infirm.
Whether there has been cheating or not,
all this will do is insure you cannot cheat.
It seems to me that you people are against this because Republicans want this. All I want is election results with no doubt who the winner is. Convince me why this bill is wrong.
tulip says
Look at it this way, if Trump had won the 2020 election not ONE word of fraud or all the lies and and derision he has spread would ever have been uttered.All we would have heard was what a great election and I won big. I do not intend to vote for any republican because way to many of them are Trump believers and butt kissers and anyone who acts like that should never be elected for anything, Look how bad the USA has become since 2020. Biden is not perfect but he is not the low class liar Trump and his gang are,
can'tfoolme says
And if Hillary had won in 2016 there would never have been accusations of Russian Collusion and rumblings of foul play. Better to prevent the possibility of fraud and doubt in every way possible because gone are the days when all voters and elections were totally honest and honorable. We should accept all the help available to ensure our elections are as foolproof as possible. I thank DeSantis for his effort!
The dude says
“All I want is election results with no doubt who the winner is.”
We’ve had that for over 200 years, and by his own admission DeathSantis had it in 2020 here in FL.
Not my fault the favored candidate of all the rubes and dullards lost in 2020. Nor was it because of any sort of verifiable, quantifiable fraud. He just lost. Plain and simple.
Now, convince me why an expensive new State Government “enforcement” agency is needed here.
More “enforcement” = Less freedom. Always.
Old Guy says
I don’t mind showing ID when I vote but all these other so called anti-fraud measures being perpetrated by the MAGA crowd are total BS. Like them or not the Democrats did a better job of motivating their voters in many parts of the country in 2020 than the Republicans. The election was not stolen.
G A says
DeSantis sees the writing on the wall. He is going to lose and he knows it. So much of this state hates the man. So, he has put something in place to assure himself a win. Gee, like something Putin would do, huh? That’s probably where he got the idea from. If you have any crazy notion he won’t sign this bill, think again. This is HIS baby. This bill is his insurance that he will win Florida, one way or another.
flatsflyer says
The only documented cases of voter fraud have only occurred in The Viillages (4) and and 2 cases in South Florida. All those charged are registered Republicans and cast their votes as such. Upwards of 1,000 cases of Republicans tricking senior citizens into changing enrollment by fraud are under investigation. Have not seen the actual wording of the Bill but I assume it can only be used to arrest Democrats. De Santis is a fraud himself and I wish he would go to Russia and kiss Putin’s ass.
Leila says
Comments like these all by themselves might be reason enough to take a close look at this upcoming election. Polls are now showing that most voters support some kind of identification. That’s not being done to suppress any votes but to ensure greater confidence in our elections.
tulip says
The district lines were changed by desantis to eliminate a large district of which was mostly black or democrat. That is voter suppression. Stricter rules on obtaining absentee ballots, less drop boxes in certain counties-that’s voter suppresion. Yes, every voter should have to provide valid Id, that’s common sense. There will always be a handful of voters in any state that try to get away with something, but it doesn’t change the results of the vote as to who wins or loses. If they got rid of electoral votes and the winner was decided by who got the most votes, they could get rid of a lot of issues like redistricting and sizes of states, etc. Also open primaries should be allowed–that would bring a more accurate vote count as Independents could cast a primary vote, not R & D’s.
C. J. says
Interesting comments from a few who do not appear to know how our local, county and statewide elections are conducted. Very professionally. By our county officials despite disruption attempts by some of our loud mouths, and probably the same who are under investigation for the defrauding our elders with changes to their voting status/registrations. Our local county election officials deserve our thanks, appreciation of how they face daily challenges and persist in running safe, and honest elections. If only we could keep the state wolves away and out of our local business, educational institutions, and medical care. And just think, if we could get them to write honest and operational software, even our unemployed could get their checks.
coyote says
Great business opportunity here. Start selling DeSantis-approved jack boots.
What Else Is New says
Governor DeStrip-us-of-democracy knows full well what he has sown. He’ll take any manner of getting his name out in the public. He has 21 military bases, numerous National Guard personnel and he gets 3 million from FPL for hiring vigilantes to harass voters at the poles. Is this Mr. Putin personified? As a fourth generation Floridian, my heart breaks to see my beloved Florida move away from democracy and protection of the environment therein, treasured voting rights abandoned, tearing at the very essence of public schools, inherent racism within the GOP Legislature, the misconduct of adults at public meetings embarrassing themselves and Florida’s image. We are aware of many more restrictions on the democracy of Florida.
Michael Cocchiola says
I think a lot of people are losing sight of the problem. They’re looking at the details of voter i.d. and on the surface that seems reasonable. But the real issue is voter intimidation and putting voter policing in the hands of far-right officials who believe voter fraud is pervasive.
Every day under right-wing political corruption our democracy loses ground. One day, it’ll be unrecognizable.
Steve says
DUHSantis is such an impotent little punk. Nevermind spending time on real issues lets fix stuff that’s not broke