Florida’s Ron DeSantis is taking steps to ensure voter integrity in all future elections. On Wednesday the Florida Governor announced he would propose legislation aimed at increasing voters’ faith in elections, one specific example is establishing an “election crimes” office which would be tasked with investigating reports of election crimes and fraud.
The Washington Examiner reports:
“I am excited that with this legislation, our state will be able to enforce election violations, combat voter fraud, and make sure violators are held accountable,” he said. “If potential violators know they will be held accountable, they will be much less likely to engage in improper conduct in the first place.”
The DeSantis legislation would also ban “insecure haphazard drop box locations” anywhere in the state and would make ballot harvesting, which is prohibited, a third-degree felony.
The legislation would also require county election supervisors to adhere to a timeline to purge voter rolls of ineligible voters.
DeSantis plans to introduce the proposals in the next state legislative session, which begins in January. He said the changes he is pitching would make Florida “the No. 1 state for elections.”
DeSantis’ latest proposal follows legislation he passed in May which banned the mass mailing of ballots and implemented voter ID laws.