Special Voter Fraud Taskforce.

Everett WA

Description

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and the state legislature created the Office of Election Crimes and Security to investigate all types of voter fraud as well as arrest and prosecute suspected violators. It’s been just under two months since the unit was established, and on Thursday, August 18, the governor announced the office had arrested 20 people for voter fraud. In January 2022, during his State of the State Address, DeSantis said the new unit’s “sole focus will be the enforcement of Florida’s election laws.” This includes Amendment 4, which was passed in 2018. Under those laws, people convicted of felony sexual assault or murder are permanently banned from casting ballots. The investigators identified these 20 people, most located in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward Counties, as allegedly having violated this statute. DeSantis made it very clear that this is just the beginning of the office’s efforts. He wants to ensure that only United States citizens are voting. Foreign nationals, he says, will come under scrutiny soon, too. The governor called out the federal government for its failures in this respect and said Florida will step up to the plate where the White House has failed. If convicted, the 20 people arrested face up to 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Here in the Northwest A bill from Gov. Jay Inslee that would make it a misdemeanor for elected leaders or candidates to spread unfounded allegations of election fraud was passed out of committee in the state Legislature on Wednesday. Would Inslee bill making it illegal to lie about election fraud survive a court challenge? Inslee first proposed the bill on the one-year anniversary of the now-infamous Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, calling lies about election fraud a “threat to our democracy” that persists to this day both in Washington and across the country. In Washington state, several Republican candidates running for Congress — and a handful of elected state lawmakers — have frequently echoed Donald Trump’s largely disproven claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Under Inslee’s bill, elected officials and candidates who have filed for public office “who knowingly make false statements or claims regarding the election process or results” would face gross misdemeanor charges and, if convicted, would be forced to forfeit their elected office. The bill was voted out of the state Senate’s Government & Elections Committee on Wednesday on a 3-2 party-line vote. Speaking in favor of the measure, Democratic Sen. Patty Kuderer detailed a need to hold elected leaders and candidates “to a higher standard” in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented push to overturn the 2020 election. “They have extraordinary influence and their speech has outsized impact. Simply put, they should be held to a higher standard because the people put their trust in us,” she said. “Never before in history have we had a former president foment, encourage, and actively work to overturn an election and nullify the vote of the people.” “Many Republican leaders across our state and country have spoken out against disinformation, but sadly, there’s a growing number of elected officials and those running for office who actively use their platforms to spread lies that undermine our democracy, and many of these candidates are running solely on the ‘Big Lie,'” she continued. “This is a dangerous abuse of power and it needs to be treated as such — it needs to stop.” Republican Sen. Jeff Wilson summed up his opposition in simple terms. “I will not need much time to share my explanation as to why I’m unable to support this bill at this time, but what I can give is just one reason and only one reason: It’s called the First Amendment,” he said. “In my district, it’s always preferred to take the time to listen and learn what people are saying and what they’re truly trying to convey, rather than any form of punishing people that you may disagree with.”