By St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Vicky Oakes
mail@floridanewsline.com

The legislative session ends on March 11, but there’s a lot in the news lately regarding the election law changes that are currently before our state legislature. Of great interest is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new Office of Election Crimes and Security that would be created within the Department of State as proposed in Senate Bill 524. The purpose of the office is to aid the Secretary of State in completing her duties under s. 97.012, FS. If approved, the office would be responsible for:

  • Receiving and reviewing notices and reports generated by government officials or any other person regarding alleged occurrences of election law violations or election irregularities
  • Initiating independent inquiries and conducting preliminary investigations into allegations of election law violations or election irregularities in the state
  • Reviewing complaints and conducting preliminary investigations into alleged violations of the Florida Election Code or any rules pertaining to elections
  • Overseeing the voter fraud hotline

Under our current law, when this office is made aware of voter fraud or voting irregularities, a complaint is filed with our local State Attorney’s Office and the Division of Elections. Having one central agency to investigate election law violations and investigators who are specifically familiar with election laws and prosecutable violations would be a good thing. This would also allow our State Attorneys to focus on more serious crimes such as robbery, assault, and murder.

In addition to the proposed new office, Florida has existing laws in place that help secure our elections. First is photo and signature ID requirements for those voting in person. If you vote by mail, your signature is required on the return envelope in order for your ballot to count. Think of it this way — when you vote by mail, your signature is your ID. Every signature is matched to the voter’s record on each envelope to validate it. We use electronic poll books, which update your record as soon as you check in at any voting location and keep voters from voting twice. Electronic poll books also track vote by mail ballots, marking a voter’s record when requested or a ballot returned as voted. 

People are often very quick to make accusations of voter fraud, but when asked for specifics or documentation rarely are ever willing or able to provide any valid proof. During the last five years in St. Johns County, we have received and filed 11 complaints with the State Attorney’s Office. These were documented cases of voters casting ballots in two states. Once we confirmed that a voter had voted in St. Johns County and in another state, each voter was turned over for prosecution of a third degree felony. 

That five-year period encompasses five elections, including those in 2018 and 2020, with thousands of votes cast during each election. The reality is that we are just not seeing evidence of massive voter fraud locally. We will discuss more about election security in future columns, but if you know of any voter fraud, I encourage you to bring it directly to me. I stand ready to prosecute anyone who violates our voting laws. 

Do you want to keep up with current elections news? Sign up for my monthly e-newsletter, which will be launched in March. Use the sign up link on the front page of the website votesjc.gov and submit your email address to subscribe. The best way to reach me is by email voakes@votesjc.gov or call the office (904) 823-2238. Don’t forget, our website is also a great resource, so visit it often.

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