WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A new law enforcement agency for elections, which was signed into law Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, maybe in place by the fall elections.
"It will allow to have people that specialize in security and election integrity. That's getting off the ground soon," DeSantis said on Monday.
The new force is expected to investigate voter fraud and other offenses, even as critics say there is no need since voter fraud happens so infrequently.
"It's another action to find a problem that doesn't exist," said Patrick Franklin, president of the Urban League of Palm Beach County.
Franklin said he's also being forced to change how the Urban League helps voters now that the new law also labels so-called "ballot harvesting" as a felony.
"Since we are a trusted entity in the community, a lot of seniors brought their ballots to us or came here to fill out their ballot and said, "Would you pass it on for us,'" Franklin said.
The new law, which prevents that sort of help, follows last year's reforms that included restrictions on ballot boxes.
All of this follows a 2020 election when the governor held up Florida as a model for handling elections.
"There's more to do in Florida to make sure we're transparent, fair and have integrity," DeSantis said.
Franklin said he's now focused on registering voters.
"Now is not the time to sit back and say, 'My vote doesn’t count.' Your vote counts, each and every vote counts," Franklin said.