TAMPA, Fla. — On August 18, FDLE agents arrested 17 people who allegedly voted illegally in the 2020 election, including six people from Hillsborough County.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the arrests in Ft. Lauderdale Thursday.
"I also want to be very clear, going forward that we're going to continue to make sure that our laws are rigorously enforced," he said.
Florida's recently created Office Elections Crimes and Security found they were all convicted felons who voted in 2020 although their rights weren't restored.
"They are disqualified from voting because they've been convicted of either murder or sexual assault and they do not have the right to vote. They have been disenfranchised under Florida law and Amendment 4 that passed specifically excluded people that have been convicted of sexual assault, and homicide from being able to have an automatic restoration of their voting rights," he said.
Florida Senator Jeff Brandes authored the bill related to rights restoration. He tweeted his disappointment in how the government has handled the restoration process.
As the author of the bill implementing amend 4 it was our intent that those ineligible would be granted some grace by the state if they registered without intent to commit voter fraud. Some of the individuals did check with SOEs and believed they could register. #Intentmatters https://t.co/3IXmSuIpSe
— Jeff Brandes (@JeffreyBrandes) August 19, 2022
Earlier this year, before the state formed its election police unit, four people in The Villages were arrested for casting multiple ballots in the 2020 election.
Florida's Department of State shows 14.3 million registered voters.
Neil Volz with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition said 216,000 of those voters are returning citizens who have had their rights restored.
Volz said the responsibility for voting integrity lies in the governments hands.
"We think that if we were to focus our efforts on creating a better data management system, that would have real election integrity, and be able to tell who is and is not an eligible voter on the front end, then we would save all this time and effort by law enforcement and the courts and others to try and prosecute somebody years later," Volz said.
The Office of Elections Crimes and Security is just the latest example of a shift in Florida elections.
Florida banned volunteers and election workers from collecting ballots from homes.
Voters now have to provide an ID or social security number to request a mail-in ballot.
Drop boxes are now required and allowed at the Supervisor of Elections office and outside early voting sites, open only during early voting hours, and monitored at all times by an election worker.
ABC Action News Political Analyst Susan MacManus said these changes have sparked discussion.
"Some people, they feel like the government is going too far, and making it more difficult and contributing to voter suppression. But Floridians in general, in polls that have been taken after the election generally think that our system of voting is pretty good," MacManus said.
MacManus added changes are to be expected, however.
"With every election comes new issues and new problems. So it's not unexpected that the legislature might tinker with the election reform."
Voter fraud is a third degree felony. Punishment includes up to a $5,000 fine and/or 5 years in prison.
DeSantis said more arrests are coming, including undocumented voters.
