Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed election integrity legislation into law on Monday to improve election security, transparency, and administration.
Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 524, Election Administration, in Spring Hill to guarantee Florida continues to have secure and accurate elections, according to the news release.
“Twenty years ago, nobody thought Florida was a prime example of how to conduct elections, but we have become a national leader by running the most secure elections in the country,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “We need to do more to ensure our elections remain secure. We have ended ballot harvesting, stopped drop boxes and the mass mailing of ballots, and banned Zuckerbucks, and this bill will give us more resources to make sure bad actors are held accountable.”
“When Covid hit, we did not change unconstitutionally, changed procedures. We followed the law. We applied the law just like it was. And the result was on election night. You counted 99% of the votes by midnight on election night in Florida. And you look at these other States, and it took them days, weeks. Some of them, like New York and California, it takes them over a month just to count the votes from one election. And so, that does not inspire confidence,” DeSantis said before signing the bill.
“I think people see especially you have one candidate winning on election night and then three days later the other candidate wins with all these votes that are done. So that’s not the way to do it,” DeSantis added.
Governor DeSantis posted more details on the bill, SB 524 takes FIVE KEY STEPS to ensure that Florida Elections remain SECURE:
- Creates an Office of Election Crimes and Security to investigate allegations of voter fraud.
- Increases the penalty for ballot harvesting from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $5,000 fine, and up to 5 years probation.
- Requires the Department of State to strengthen ID requirements for mail-in ballots.
- Requires supervisors of elections to check voter rolls every year for ineligible voters.
- Broadens the prohibition of election supervisors from receiving “Zuckerbucks.”
You can read the summary of the bill here and below: