Critics Question Florida's New 'Election Police Force'



Critics say Florida’s new police force created to investigate alleged voter fraud could lead to abuse and polarization. WBBH’s Dave Elias reports.

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29 comments

  1. Send that bill for 2 Million Dollars and make it payable ONLY by Ron DeSantis.
    I think 1 of the folks in this video made the point, rightly or wrongly, that this will delay election results even further. (More time to mount challenges?)

  2. DeSantis is going to rig the election and the voters are going to pay for it!

  3. So does anybody have the right to assemble a police force for what ever reason they feel one is needed?

  4. de santis like his father tramp are dictators

  5. Let's pray it doesn't happen but Republicans probably will take over with next election America is screwed.

  6. Hanging chad Florida will always be remembered as the most corrupt voting state ever. We need a giant storm to come along and tear off Florida and Texas send them down to Porto Rico.

  7. The nazi republicans are hard at work destroying America 🇺🇸

  8. I wouldn't live in or near Florida. Ronnie boy is a stone cold evil nut.

  9. Creating problems during elections is the plan republicans have for their goal of getting power creating an autocracy.

  10. Dictator DeathSantis

  11. Its absolutely ridiculous.

  12. More Gestapo tactics by the Florida Neo-Facist party

  13. DeSantis' little Nazi Germany Going, A FAR RT Secret Army for a Governor? This is so stupid, it's hilarious….Sea levels are already rising…can't wait for the Boa Infested Golf Courses…..😜🤣🤣🤣

  14. Remember- big government is only bad unless a straight cisgender Christian man tells you what to do- then, it’s okay! It’s “limiting government power” with more government! Way to go Florida- you’ve got your work cut out for you.
    I hope they uninstall every single one of these people who are doing ZILCH about inflation and the increase in the cost of living and instead have spent the last 5-6 years fighting culture wars.

  15. It’s also been proven that minorities cheat.

  16. DeSantis' Gestapo. Most assuredly unconstitutional.

  17. Florida, test ground for a fascist state. Shame on Republicans. All of them.

  18. People who suffer from inequality because of race in our country will be frightened away from the polls on election day because of this election police law.

  19. I wonder if the election police will be going after Republicans who violate election laws at the same rate as Democrats.

  20. The police will be there to disrupt the process. That's the aim.

  21. Why DeSantis’ new election police unit in Florida matters

    Florida's Republican governor will handpick officers to investigate election crimes that largely don't exist. What could possibly go wrong?

    Among the new — and entirely unnecessary — policy measures were restrictions on ballot drop boxes, new powers for partisan poll watchers, and new burdens on those who vote by mail. (About a month ago, a federal judge rejected the anti-voting measures. The ruling has been appealed.)

    Evidently, that wasn’t good enough, either. The Associated Press reported on Gov. Ron DeSantis signing a bill yesterday that will, among other things, create a police force dedicated to pursuing election crimes that largely don’t exist.

    The law creates an Office of Election Crimes and Security under the Florida Department of State to review fraud allegations and conduct preliminary investigations. DeSantis is required to appoint a group of special officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who would be tasked with pursuing the election law violations.

    I suppose the obvious joke here is that the Office of Election Crimes and Security could simply dispatch officers to hang out at The Villages and catch Trump voters committing fraud, but the fact remains that the creation of such an office is far from funny.

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    A far-right Republican governor will handpick officers to pursue a problem that doesn’t exist in any significant way. GOP legislators nevertheless agreed to create this new “office” and set aside more than $2.6 million in taxpayer money to address the imagined scourge.

    That, incidentally, was a pared-down total: DeSantis originally wanted $5.7 million for a 52-person voter fraud police force — which, again, would be responsible for dealing with a problem that the governor knows isn’t real.

    The Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez summarized the problem nicely: “There are few things more dangerous than a government agency handed cash and resources with a mandate to solve a problem that does not exist. As a rule, they’ll invent it if they have to.”

    Steve Benen

    Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."

  22. Only fraudsters should be worried.

  23. so the Inquisitorial Squad?

  24. It they called mask wearers nazis 😂

  25. Remarkable, how Republicans these days are so super focused on solving problems that don’t exist… 🤦🏻‍♀️

  26. Gestapo at the door to turn you away?

  27. If you don’t like Florida there are 49 other states you can live in

  28. HOW DARE FLORIDA ATTEMPT TO BRING LEGITIMACY TO THEIR ELECTION SYSTEM !!!!!

  29. Leave Governor Di santis alone. The man is buying Votes.