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Florida governor Ron DeSantis pledges to create law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes and fraud

 Florida   governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes and fraud, he announced on We...

 Florida governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes and fraud, he announced on Wednesday.

Citing unspecified examples of election fraud, DeSantis on Wednesday said the agency would be created as part of a new package of voting laws.

Speaking at an event in West Palm Beach, the Republican governor announced a series of election law proposals for lawmakers to take up during next year's legislative session.

Other laws will include new restrictions on ballot drop boxes and strengthened penalties for ballot harvesting. 

DeSantis, who is up for reelection and is eyeing a 2024 presidential run, echoed many talking points on voting problems that have gained traction in the GOP.

This has come since former President Donald Trump started pushing claims that the 2020 presidential reelection was stolen from him, despite no evidence.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes and fraud, he announced on Wednesday. Pictured: DeSantis asks the crowd 'How about Virginia,' as he arrives at an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, to announce proposed election reform laws, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes and fraud, he announced on Wednesday. Pictured: DeSantis asks the crowd 'How about Virginia,' as he arrives at an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, to announce proposed election reform laws, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021

The governor has previously praised the 2020 election in Florida as smooth, and there is widespread consensus among election officials and experts that there was no fraud that could have impacted results in the last presidential election.

Still, without evidence, DeSantis suggested issues at the ballot box.

'There'll be people, if you see someone ballot harvesting, you know, what do you do? If you call into the election office, a lot of times they don't do anything.

'If you know that, there's, you know, in Florida, it's Constitutionally mandated, only citizens are allowed to vote in Florida, and yet you see examples of people, they'll even check they're not citizens, and they'll still be given ballots,' he said to applause.

DeSantis spoke broadly about the proposed election police force, but a news release from his office said the Office of Election Crimes and Security would be formed 'within the Department of State to investigate election crimes and fraud.'


A spokesperson for DeSantis said the governor is seeking to proactively deter criminal activity and prevent voter fraud but referred questions on specific violations of election law to the Florida attorney general or the state department. 

Neither agency immediately returned an email seeking comment.

His event Wednesday at a hotel was listed as a press conference but included a large crowd that cheered along as he criticized coronavirus mandates, Big Tech and policing policies in liberal states.

Chants of 'Let's go Brandon' broke out during the press conference after he mocked President Joe Biden's White House as the 'Brandon administration'.

The anti-Biden phrase originated at a NASCAR race when a reporter lied to drown out chants from the crowd and quickly rose to the mouths of mainstream figures.  

Republicans nationwide were in a buoyant mood after GOP businessman Glenn Youngkin scored an upset victory in the Virginia gubernatorial election over the state's popular former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday night.  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis supporter Kerry Kensington of North Palm Beach, Florida looks on wearing a 'Make America Florida' hat at an event in West Palm Beach where DeSantis announced proposed election reform laws, Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis supporter Kerry Kensington of North Palm Beach, Florida looks on wearing a 'Make America Florida' hat at an event in West Palm Beach where DeSantis announced proposed election reform laws, Wednesday, November 3, 2021

FL Governor Ron DeSantis mocks the Brandon/Biden administration
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'If you look at what's going on with some of the big corporations with their woke agenda, when you look at the Biden - the Brandon administration - in terms of what they're doing,' the Florida Republican said.

Cheers and applause broke out before DeSantis finished speaking, prompting him to trail off and laughs as chants of 'Let's go Brandon' filled the room.

It's supposed to be a stand-in for 'F**k Joe Biden.'   

Instead of toning down the crowd's cheer, which is more commonly seen at sporting events than small-scale political remarks, DeSantis quietly nodded and allowed the crowd of mostly middle-aged and older adults grow louder with some people clapping and whooping along. 

He then ventured to explain the origins of the phrase and defended it by saying Donald Trump endured worse criticism as president.

'Do you know how that started? Like it was - you have the media and their hand-wringing over this, but you know it was at a NASCAR race. They're doing the interview with the driver, I guess his name was Brandon,' DeSantis began as the crowd egged him on.

'And the crowd starts chanting very colorful language about Joe Biden. And it was obvious what they were doing, and you know it is what it is.' He added, 'They said way worse about Trump for four years, we know that,' to more applause.

Earlier this year, as part of a nationwide GOP push to tighten voting laws, DeSantis signed a bill that restricted the use of ballot drop boxes, strengthened voter ID laws and prohibited the so-called practice of 'ballot harvesting,' the collection of completed ballots by a third party, among other things.

Trump in 2020 attacked efforts to expand ballot access during the pandemic, spreading baseless claims of fraud.

Republicans nationwide were in a buoyant mood after GOP businessman Glenn Youngkin (pictured at victory part on Wednesday) scored an upset victory in the Virginia gubernatorial election over the state's popular former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday

Republicans nationwide were in a buoyant mood after GOP businessman Glenn Youngkin (pictured at victory part on Wednesday) scored an upset victory in the Virginia gubernatorial election over the state's popular former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday

Republican-controlled states have rushed to tighten voting laws, cutting early voting hours, restricting mail balloting and arguing that liberalizing elections invites fraud and helps Democrats. 

The latter claim contradicts repeated studies that have found that mail voting does not favor either political party.

Virginia's latest election - which saw Youngkin defeat former Governor Terry McAuliffe in Tuesday's vote - is another example of how liberal voting laws don't hurt conservatives. 

Likewise, New Jersey Democrats greatly expanded access to mail voting in recent years but struggled to hold onto the governor's mansion in the solidly blue state.

Incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy squeaked by Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, even though registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans there by more than 1 million. 

The result had been in doubt until the Associated Press called the race for Murphy on Wednesday evening, sparing the Democrats a humiliating defeat. 

Ciattarelli, 59, a former state lawmaker, had trailed by as much as 10 points in some opinion polls but gained ground by criticizing Murphy's unpopular mask requirements for school children.

Both Republican candidates saw strong gains in the suburbs from independent voters who had been turned off by Trump's style of politics. The results in states that Biden won easily in 2020 suggest that Democrats' razor-thin majorities in Congress are highly vulnerable in the 2022 elections.

If Republicans gain control of both, or even one, chamber of Congress, the party would win the ability to block Biden's legislative agenda in the final two years of his term.

Pictured: A voter casts his vote during the Miami General Municipal and Special Elections in Miami-Dade County, Florida, at the Jose Marti Gym on Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Pictured: A voter casts his vote during the Miami General Municipal and Special Elections in Miami-Dade County, Florida, at the Jose Marti Gym on Tuesday, November 2, 2021

The Democratic loss in Virginia gives Trump an opportunity to portray it as a repudiation of Biden as the Republican sets the stage for another possible presidential run in 2024.

But Biden, whose approval ratings last week were at the lowest level of his presidency according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos national poll, avoided taking direct responsibility for the disappointment.

'People are upset and uncertain about a lot of things, from COVID to school to jobs to a whole range of things and the cost of a gallon of gasoline. And so if I'm able to pass and sign into law my Build Back Better initiative, I'm in a position where youâre going to see a lot of things ameliorated, quickly and swiftly,' he said.

The top Democrats in Congress vowed to push ahead on Biden's legislative agenda, hoping to pass twin bills worth a combined $2.75 trillion to rebuild roads and bridges as well as bolster the social safety net and fight climate change. 

They have been held up by months of infighting between progressive and moderate Democrats. 

Wednesday saw Glenn Youngkin, 54, declare victory after a campaign in which he focused on parents' anger over schools' handling of COVID-19, as well as teaching on race and gender issues.

He walked a fine line on Trump, taking care not to alienate the former president's hardcore base and not offering a full-throated endorsement of his false claims about widespread 2020 election fraud.

McAuliffe's efforts to paint his rival, a former chief executive of the Carlyle Group Inc, as a Trump acolyte fell flat with voters.

'Together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth,' Youngkin told a rally in Chantilly, Virginia, early on Wednesday.

Republican congressional campaigns may follow Youngkin's model of focusing on culture wars and promising to give parents more control over public schools.

A voter stands on line before casting his vote during the Hialeah General Municipal and Special Elections in Miami-Dade County, Fla., at the Hialeah Fire Station # 5 on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021

A voter stands on line before casting his vote during the Hialeah General Municipal and Special Elections in Miami-Dade County, Fla., at the Hialeah Fire Station # 5 on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021

Youngkin and other Republicans latched onto concerns from parents that schools are teaching left-wing ideas to combat racism, at the expense of more traditional subjects.

He vowed to ban the teaching of 'critical race theory,' a legal framework that examines how racism shapes U.S. laws and policies and is linked to anti-racism concepts such as 'white privilege.' Virginia school officials say critical race theory as a subject is not taught in classrooms. 

Republicans also appeared to erase the Democrats' 10-seat lead in Virginia's House of Delegates, appearing to gain a 50-50 split or perhaps a one-seat advantage.

Virginia Republicans picked Youngkin in an unusual convention format in May, rather than by a statewide primary. That format was designed to pick a more moderate candidate, rather than one more closely allied with Trump.

Even so, Trump sought to claim credit, thanking 'my BASE' in a statement for putting Youngkin over the top.

In New Jersey, Murphy, 64, ran as an unabashed liberal and became the first Democratic governor to win re-election in New Jersey in four decades. He sought to strike a tone of political unity in brief victory remarks before cheering supporters at an Asbury Park convention hall on Wednesday.

'I renew my promise to you, whether you voted for me or not, to work every single day of the next four years to keep moving us forward,' he said.

Besides hammering Murphy over the governor's aggressive pandemic response, Ciattarelli campaigned on cutting taxes and supporting law enforcement. In an unusual position for a Republican, he supports abortion rights, at least for the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

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