DeSantis' 'election police' are an illegal voter intimidation tactic: lawsuit

A new lawsuit filed by a voting rights group called the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition alleges that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' "election police" gambit is an illegal attempt to intimidate voters in his state.

The Washington Post reports that the group's complaint alleges that DeSantis' office has used the police force to wrongfully arrest people who were past convicted felons who had no idea that the Florida legislature had rescinded their rights to vote after the passage of a ballot initiative that aimed to restore voting rights for felons.

In particular, writes the Post, the complaint argues that "a lack of a reliable database allowing people with convictions to determine their voter eligibility status is unconstitutional and a failure to adhere to Amendment 4, a ballot initiative passed in 2018 to grant voting rights to people with felony records who are in good standing with the law."

The complaint also alleges that voters in the state were subjected to a "byzantine process in which... a potential voter’s eligibility is often determined by local practices that vary depending on the county in which they live."

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DeSantis made a big show of touting the arrests of Floridians whom he said committed voter fraud by participating illegally in elections.

However, a review of the election police force initiative at its one-year mark revealed that six of the 20 initial arrests made by the force were tossed out of court, while five accepted plea deals that involved no jail time, and another went to trial and delivered a split verdict.