WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new legislative proposal to further strengthen Florida’s election integrity. This proposed legislation will be addressed in the upcoming 2022 Legislative Session, which begins in January.
“We are excited to say that next legislative session we are proposing another package of election integrity reforms that will make Florida the number one state for elections,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “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. If potential violators know they will be held accountable, they will be much less likely to engage in improper conduct in the first place.”
At the event, Governor DeSantis called on the Legislature to take four additional steps to safeguard our elections:
- Establish an Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State to investigate election crimes and fraud;
- Elevate the crime of ballot harvesting to a third-degree felony, recognizing that this offense is a serious attack on democracy;
- Require timelines for supervisors of elections to clean the voter rolls of ineligible voters; and
- Prohibit unsecure, haphazard drop box locations in Florida.
The 2022 legislative proposal builds on election integrity legislation signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in May 2021 through Senate Bill 90. In 2021, Governor DeSantis worked with the Florida Legislature to strengthen voter identification, prohibit the mass mailing of ballots, ban ballot harvesting and prohibit private money (Zuckerbucks) from influencing elections in our state.
Since taking office, Governor DeSantis has made election integrity and security a top priority. Through the actions of the DeSantis administration, Florida has been widely recognized as running one of the best elections in the country in November 2020. Today, the Florida Department of State is posting the state’s election audit results on its website for any Floridian to access HERE.
