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A rosy image of election oversight and voter fraud interdiction is offered in a just lately accomplished report for the Florida Department of State Workplace of Election Crimes and Safety (OECS).
Gov. Ron DeSantis established the controversial company with assist from the Legislature in 2022. Some dubbed the workplace an “election police pressure” in pursuit of ferreting out voter fraud on the expense of greater than $3 million to fund operations since its inception.
The 2023 report on actions of the OECS was revealed and delivered to the Legislature on Jan. 15.
“OECS has continued to strengthen its partnership with the Florida Workplace Lawyer Basic, Workplace of Statewide Prosecution and Florida Division of Regulation Enforcement,” the report’s government abstract stated.
The 336-page report additionally states OECS operations noticed enhanced commitments to primarily third-party voter registration group fraud, poll initiative petition fraud, double voters, noncitizen fraud, convicted felon fraud and marketing campaign finance fraud.
Because it was based practically two years in the past, the report stated the OECS has managed to show fraud and stage fines towards third-party voter registration organizations 26 instances. That amounted to about $100,000 in fines. One other $34,000 in fines have been leveled towards political committees for varied infractions for petition campaigns, in line with the transient.
The OECS report additionally detailed a number of different outstanding prosecutions and arrests throughout Florida final yr together with:
— A courtroom conviction in January 2023 of a fraudulent voter registration utility in Hillsborough County from a case that began in 2022.
— The arrest of a Marion County lady for casting two ballots in a single election.
— The arrest of a Fort Walton Seashore lady for falsely swearing to voter registration info.
— The arrest of three individuals who have been convicted of felonies and nonetheless registered to vote.
— The arrest of an Alachua County man who was a convicted felon and voted within the 2020 election.
— The conviction of former Kissimmee Metropolis Commissioner Carlos Irizarry, for campaign reporting violations in his bid to run for an Osceola County Fee seat.
And there have been about one other half dozen “highlights” within the rundown of notable instances involving the OECS. Whereas the report criticized some media for misrepresenting its mission at instances, it included a number of accounts of its actions from varied media retailers.
The report paints an upbeat image of the OECS run below DeSantis-appointed Secretary of State Twine Byrd, however the launch shies away from notable missteps by the division.
Shortly after it was fashioned, the election police pressure arrested 20 people the administration claimed had registered and voted illegally within the 2020 election. Most of these people stated they believed their proper to vote had been restored after the passage of a 2018 constitutional modification, and plenty of had even been contacted by state or county officers and inspired to register. A number of finally had costs towards them dropped.
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