Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Office of Election Security announced 20 arrests relating to election fraud on Thursday.
According to DeSantis, the arrests resulted from convicted felons attempting to vote in Florida.
BREAKING NOW: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ANNOUNCES THE ARREST of 20 Individuals For Voter Fraud Across the Sunshine State…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) August 18, 2022
Florida’s Amendment 4, passed by ballot initiative in 2018, restored voting rights to most convicted felons but still prevented people convicted of sexual assault or homicide from voting.
The 20 people who were arrested for voter fraud were all convicted on the charges mentioned above.
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“They do not have the right to vote, they have been disenfranchised under Florida law. Amendment 4 that passed specifically included people who have been convicted of sexual assault and homicide from being able to have an automatic restoration of their voting rights. They did not go through any process, they did not get their rights restored, and yet they went ahead and voted anyway,” said DeSantis.
WATCH: Ron DeSantis announces his Office of Election Crimes and Security is charging and arresting individuals across the state for voter fraud
"These folks voted illegally… They are disqualified from voting because they have been convicted of either murder or sexual assault!" pic.twitter.com/JhQY2SlOzN
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 18, 2022
DeSantis began his speech in front of the Broward County Courthouse by looking back at the election integrity laws that were passed under his leadership.
“We didn’t make any unconstitutional changes to election procedures,” DeSantis said. “We basically followed the law, the people, the voters were better for it, the transparency was better.” The governor said that while the election went more smoothly and voters were more confident in the results, “we still had work to do.”
The Florida Governor went on to say that the arrests that occurred on Thursday prove why an Office of Election Integrity is necessary, disproving ‘naysayers’ who believe that election integrity is not a serious issue.
“We want to make sure we have laws in place, and we want to make sure they’re enforced,” DeSantis said. The election law took effect on July 1, creating the office. “They got the money in the budget…when we did it, there were some naysayers saying ‘oh, what are they going to do, twiddle their thumbs?’ Well I’m here to say, they got in, Pete was named and immediately they went to work. They’re looking to hold people accountable who violated our election laws.”
Liberal politicians and members of the media doubled down on their attacks against DeSantis as he delivered his speech at the Broward County Courthouse today.
Elijah Manley, running for State Representative in Florida’s 99th District, called DeSantis a ‘mob boss’.
DeSantis rolled into Broward County like a mob boss and basically threatened voters and the elections chief. He has got to be removed.
— Elijah Manley (@iElijahManley) August 18, 2022
Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried echoed Manley’s claims that DeSantis was ‘intimidating’ voters after falsely accusing him of ‘interfering’ with the Broward County Elections Office.
Getting word that DeSantis may be taking over or interfering with the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office in the middle of an election.
If true, he better have a damn good reason for it. And you know he won’t.
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) August 18, 2022
DeSantis’ tough stance on election integrity certainly sends a stern warning to people who would attempt to commit voter or election fraud. Florida’s primary election is set to occur on August 23rd, with early voting already happening across the state.
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