January 18, 2024
TALLAHASSEE — All Voting is Local Florida’s State Director Brad Ashwell issued the following statement in response to the Wednesday release of the annual Office of Election Crimes and Security report to the state legislature:
“Florida’s election police unit has led to more politicization of election security just as distrust of the system among voters is at an all-time high. Rather than working to bolster voter confidence, the latest report from the Office of Election Crimes and Security uses any data point it has to further a made-up narrative that paints voter registration groups and petition gatherers as criminals. This narrative has then been used to support legislation that suppresses voter participation and access for minority communities.
“In addition, most of the report’s data is based on allegations of violations before 2023. A look at the details reveals how, in 2023, only 11 cases from the hundreds of allegations sent to the election police led to fines that were paid. This underlines the lunacy of the office receiving a budget last year for more than $2 million when it has no actual crimes to deal with.
“But Florida’s election police unit is not meant to make practical sense. The ultimate goal is to intimidate Black and brown voters and sow needless doubt into the minds of millions of Floridians about if they can vote and whether their vote truly counts.”