November 4, 2022
TALLAHASSEE — All Voting is Local Action Florida’s State Director Brad Ashwell issued the following statement in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Office of Election Crimes and Security requesting that supervisors of election across Florida personally challenge or outright remove voters from the rolls less than a week before the general election:
“This is yet another fear tactic by Gov. DeSantis aimed at suppressing historically disenfranchised voters at a critical point in our election cycle.
“Removing Floridians from the voter rolls just days before the election creates confusion and could chill voter participation. Directing supervisors of elections to systematically remove voters this close to an election only serves to confuse and disrupt voting, which is well underway. This action deserves a thorough investigation. It is an underhanded tactic by the Office of Election Crimes to find a backdoor way to attack voters and strip them of their freedom to vote at a critical time in the elections process. These efforts to disenfranchise Floridians at the last minute will not go unchallenged and voters will not be silenced.”
Background
The Office of Election Crimes and Security, which is overseen by the Florida Secretary of State and the governor, is requesting that supervisors of elections in various Florida counties take voters off the statewide registration rolls. There are standard protocols under Florida law to remove voters from voter rolls and federal protections to prevent systematic removals of voters right before an election. But the Office of Election Crimes has directed supervisors of elections to remove voters outside those protocols, just a week before the general election.