David Perdue vows to create 'election police' to investigate voters if elected governor of Georgia

On Thursday, CNN reported that Republican gubernatorial candidate David Perdue is vowing, if elected in Georgia, to create a force of "election police" to investigate voters for wrongdoing.

"Perdue's plan would create 'an Election Law Enforcement Division in the State of Georgia' that would 'be charged with enforcing election laws, investigating election crimes and fraud, and arresting those who commit these offenses,' according to a release from his campaign," reported Dan Merica. "Perdue's plan also called for 'election results to be independently audited before certification.'"

This comes shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) called for a similar proposal, broadly panned as an effort to intimidate voters. It is one of a number of policies pushed by Republicans around the country to limit voting access, including efforts to roll back use of ballot drop boxes and restricting mail voting in general.

A Democratic-led effort to set minimum standards of voting access across the country failed this week after Republicans filibustered the legislation in the Senate.

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Perdue, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, served in the Senate until he was defeated in the 2021 runoff by Democratic filmmaker and congressional staffer Jon Ossoff. He, like Trump, has endorsed conspiracy theories about the election being stolen and blamed incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp for not doing enough to secure the "integrity" of the election.

Kemp has sharply pushed back on Perdue's effort to oust him, accusing the former senator of illegally financing the effort by coordinating with an "independent" political committee.