All Voting is Local Florida State Director Brad Ashwell issued the following statement in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s announcement Wednesday that he intends to establish a statewide office based on unfounded claims of election crimes:
“This is a gross misuse of public resources that will only fuel distrust in our elections process. Taxpayer dollars will now be used to fund an office specifically designed to perpetuate and give credence to a never-ending stream of lies about our elections.
“Let’s be clear: DeSantis and his cronies are only concerned about limiting peoples’ right to vote. State lawmakers should focus instead on expanding early voting options, increasing dropbox accessibility, improving transparency, and ensuring our election operations are fully funded.”
Background: Gov. DeSantis announced at a Wednesday press conference that Florida lawmakers are working on another set of anti-voter election measures. This comes just months after he signed Senate Bill 90 into law, which makes it harder for voters to request and return vote-by-mail ballots and get assistance while waiting in line to vote. In addition to DeSantis’s Wednesday’s announcement that he supports the creation of an office to investigate these unsubstantiated claims, he said he would make it a third-degree felony to have third party groups collect ballots.