Knowing that there are still concerns circulating around the supposed fraud that took place during the 2020 Election, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that he would be creating a new police unit that would focus purely on election crimes. Hoping to push lawmakers to tighten penalties for those who try to steal an election, Governor DeSantis believes this move will help strengthen election integrity and restore the public’s trust in the process. 

Speaking at a news conference in West Palm Beach, the governor unveiled the Office of Election Crimes and Security. The move comes just a few months after DeSantis signed a law tightening security around all mail-in ballots. “I guarantee you this: The first person that gets caught, no one is going to want to do it again after that.”

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On top of making the announcement, Governor DeSantis also took the time to push for more restrictions on drop boxes. Believing they have little value, he added, “I don’t even think we should have drop boxes.’

One of the main focuses of the new unit would be to investigate and stop ballot harvesting. Ballot harvesting, for those who might not know, is the process in which a third-party illegally collects ballots from voters and takes them to be counted. 

DeSantis told reporters, “If someone’s ballot harvesting, you report it to these people and this is their sole job. Some of these counties, some of them will do the cases but that’s not their expertise. They got all these other crimes that they have to deal with. So by the time it happens, the election’s already over.”

After the announcement was made, the Democrats obviously attacked the Governor for the move. Representative Anna Eskamani tweeted, like all Democrats do, “More attacks on voting coming to Florida. Just like in 2020 we had elections last night in our state w/no issues. Why does our Governor keep creating partisan chaos. Why can’t we just focus on problems like housing, hunger, taxes, our environment & public transportation?”

More attacks on voting coming to Florida. Just like in 2020 we had elections last night in our state w/no issues.

Why does our Governor keep creating partisan chaos. Why can’t we just focus on problems like housing, hunger, taxes, our environment & public transportation? https://t.co/BkeaMHeuw0

— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) November 3, 2021

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