Getting Things Done In Florida

I am not totally sold on Governor DeSantis of Florida. I think he has done a good job for the state, but I question some of his endorsements and some of the people supporting him. He has serious ties to people I do not trust.

On Wednesday, Just the News reported the following:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new election crimes unit has recommended state police open a full criminal investigation into a Democrat whistleblower’s detailed complaint of a long-running, widespread ballot harvesting operation in the African-American communities in politically important central Florida.

Former Orange County Commissioner candidate Cynthia Harris filed a sworn affidavit in late August with the Secretary of State’s office alleging that illegal operations to collect third-party ballots have been going on for years in the Orlando area where voting activists are paid $10 for each ballot they collect.

She described an intricate system funded by liberal leaning organizations that dispatch ballot brokers into black communities to pressure voters to turn over their ballots. The $10 fee per ballot is divvied up among the parties who help complete the harvesting.

The collection and delivery of ballots by third parties is illegal in Florida.

The newly created Office of Election Crimes and Security did a preliminary inquiry on Harris’ allegations and concluded there was sufficient evidence to warrant a full criminal probe by the state police, the Florida State Department told Just the News on Wednesday.

Ballot harvesting has been a problem in numerous states. It is a serious threat to our representative republic.

In October 2021, Rice University posted an article titled, “The Carter-Baker Commission: 16 Years Later.”

The article lists the steps to election integrity suggested by the Commission:

In response to these concerns, former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, agreed to co-chair a bipartisan commission, housed at Washington D.C.’s American University, to examine these and other outstanding election reform issues. The final report, titled “Building Confidence in U.S. Elections,” stressed the important role of elections in the nation’s democracy and made a series of recommendations, including:

    • A national system to connect state and local voter registration lists
       
    • Voter identification based on a universally available REAL ID card
       
    • Policies to improve voter access for all communities, as well as innovations like vote centers and voter information lookup sites
       
    • Stronger efforts to combat fraud, especially in absentee voting
       
    • Auditable paper backups for all voting technology

Maybe we need to follow the suggestions of the Commission.