Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' attempt to crack down on election fraud in Florida is stumbling as bad as his ramp-up to announcing his bid for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination.
According to a report from the Washington Post, the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which has a budget of $1.2 million, has uncovered 20 cases to date and only managed to take one to trial. And that ended with a split jury.
At its creation one year ago, the governor had requested a budget of $6 million for 52 workers to track down election fraud, with the Florida legislature eventually agreeing to $2 million.
After the agreement was reached, DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske crowed, "We're very excited and thank the legislature for delivering on Governor DeSantis' election security initiative. The legislature carried out our goal of making it easier to vote and harder to cheat."
One year later, it doesn't look like Florida taxpayers are getting much bang for their buck.
As the Post's Loria Rozsa wrote, "One by one, many of the initial 20 arrests announced by the Office of Election Crimes and Security have stumbled in court. Six cases have been dismissed. Five other defendants accepted plea deals that resulted in no jail time. Only one case has gone to trial, resulting in a split verdict. The others are pending."
The report notes that in its first nine months, the "election police" managed only four arrests and that has led critics to state that "the low numbers point to the overall strength of Florida’s electoral system and a lack of sufficient evidence to pursue further charges."
Nonetheless, the Florida governor is pressing ahead as his attempts to make a bid for higher office, with the Post reporting he wants to throw another $3.1 million at the department this year.
"DeSantis has continued to defend the unit’s work. But the governor’s press secretary, Bryan Griffin, recently said that investigators won’t go after voters who are simply confused about Amendment 4, which restored voting rights for most felons. He would not comment on whether the policy represents a reversal from the administration’s earlier stance, referring a reporter to Byrd’s office, which did not respond," Rozsa wrote before adding, "The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the judicial track record of the Office of Election Crimes and Security."
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