DeSantis, a Republican, indicated that the office would have law enforcement officers, investigators as well as a statewide prosecutor to carry out its mission.
''What will happen is if someone's ballot harvesting, you report it to these people and this is their sole job,'' DeSantis stated at a news conference in West Palm Beach. ''There'll be specialists, they're going to understand what's legal, what's not legal, they're going to have the ability to investigate any crimes involving the election, and I think that's going to be something that's very, very important.''
DeSantis went on to pledge that ''I guarantee you this: The first person that gets caught, no one is going to want to do it again after that,'' Politico reported.
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In addition, DeSantis announced ''election integrity reform'' proposals that will be discussed in the state Legislature in January, according to News4Jax.
These include changing ballot harvesting from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, requiring timelines for supervisors of elections to clean the voter rolls of ineligible voters, and ''prohibit insecure, haphazard drop box locations in Florida.''
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The Governor made the proposals despite praising last year's Florida elections as a smooth operation and rejecting calls by other Republicans for an audit.
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For this very reason, critics have labeled the Governor's attempts this year to tighten voting laws as politically motivated. DeSantis is running for reelection next year and is recognized as a potential 2024 Presidential candidate.
The new proposals by DeSantis come a few months after he persuaded state legislators to pass a law that adds restrictions on the collection of mail-in ballots. It also comes as some Republicans in the state, echoing former President Donald Trump’s baseless election fraud claims, are pushing for an audit of the 2020 election over DeSantis’ objections
Civil rights and voting rights groups have filed Federal lawsuits asserting the new restrictions unfairly discriminate against older voters, those with disabilities, and minority voters.
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These additional proposals could throw another hot-button issue into an upcoming regular session where Florida legislators will be working on redistricting, abortion restrictions, and another battle with tech companies over data privacy. The session starts in January.
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Democrats — who have little power to stop the changes — quickly condemned the Governor’s plans.
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One of the most significant changes contained in the new law was a two-ballot limit on how many mail-in ballots someone could gather and turn in on behalf of the elderly or sick and disabled voters. However, there is an exception for immediate family members. This ban on “ballot harvesting” is a misdemeanor that DeSantis wants increased to a felony.
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