In the state of sunshine, Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis along with the Republican Legislature were in harmony since 2020 about the flawless execution and high-security standards of elections. However, certain groups within the party hold a disputing perspective and are planning action accordingly. Several Republicans, reckoning to a dozen, are rallying across the state to contest for the supervisor of elections position this year, spurred by entities and organizations that are fostering skepticism regarding the fidelity of election operations, even advancing allegations of explicit fraud.
These critics argue that Florida’s electoral process is riddled with severe security oversights. One such embellished assertion is the presence of dubious entries in the voter rolls. One candidate went as far as to claim that the 2020 election was rigged against former President Donald Trump, and that a few Republican supervisors and even the esteemed Governor DeSantis were partners in this treasonous act. Their ultimate goal is to revolutionize the electoral system by eliminating early voting and mail-in voting, calling for manual count of the votes.
These candidates have been seen coordinating efforts during press conferences and online forums. Many have managed to raise a significant amount of money for their campaign, highlighting the support from national figures who deny the integrity of the election, including the founder of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Even more bewildering is that these allegations are being made despite Trump’s impressive 3 point lead in the 2020 elections in Florida and DeSantis’s rather stunning near 20 point victory two years later, a record for a Republican in Florida.
The stories get even more absurd. For instance, in Pinellas County, a hopeful candidate, Chris Gleason, who works as a data analyst, has accused the incumbent Republican elections supervisor, Julie Marcus, of erasing votes and hiding evidence in 2020 election. Similarly, in Palm Beach County, Jeff Buongiorno, another candidate working in information technology, filed a lawsuit against several state and federal officials last month, claiming they hadn’t done enough to hinder noncitizens from voting. The case, as of yet, is still ongoing.
The candidates, in their quest to destabilize the state’s elections, have brought forth a variety of ideas. Gleason, for instance, had communicated during a meeting with the North Pinellas Republican Club back in June that his initial action in office would be to cancel all contracts with the existing voting systems, singling out one with the manufacturer Election Systems & Software. Moreover, many of these candidates have expressed their desire to discontinue the usage of machines to count votes, citing a mistrust for technology. They prefer to rely on the old-fashioned method of having citizens count votes by hand on Election Day, a technique that is considered less accurate and painstakingly time-consuming.
David Kalin, another peculiar character in this political drama, is a part-time minister and former IT businessperson who is challenging Leah Valenti, also a Republican who was appointed by DeSantis as Charlotte County elections supervisor last year. If victorious, he promises to personally fund new software aimed at reviewing the voter rolls and plans to utilize the federal E-Verify system to validate voters’ citizenship.
Valenti, however, firmly rejected Kalin’s assertions on the grounds that they were baseless. She noted that he had failed to provide her office with any tangible evidence to support his claims of security issues. Moreover, she disapproved of his plans to carry out significant reforms as a supervisor, arguing that despite the role of elections supervisors being integral in conducting elections across the state’s 67 counties, their job is mostly administrative.
In the context of these unfounded claims, it’s important to note that rules about when elections can be held, what forms of identification are required, and which machines local supervisors can utilize are established by State law and the Division of Elections, not by the local supervisors. Legislators too have proposed bills echoing these candidates’ theories. For example, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia proposed a bill to eliminate most mail-in voting, while State Rep. Bernie Jacques proposed a bill allowing hand counting of ballots. Both bills, however, were seemingly dismissed by the political establishment and did not receive any hearings.
In the span of this political circus, DeSantis has maintained that Florida is the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to elections and has strongly dismissed any notion of widespread fraud within the state itself. However, amendments to the existing laws related to voting by mail, use of drop boxes, registering to vote, and investigating election crimes were enacted in 2021, 2022, and 2023, under his leadership.
These legal alterations, coupled with the tense political climate, have ostensibly influenced some of the nine election supervisors to abstain from running for re-election this year. Joyce Griffin, the Elections Supervisor for Monroe County stated her decision to retire after 40 years on the job, was due to the constantly changing legislation.
It is ironic to witness Republicans resorting to conspiracy theories surrounding their own electoral victories. Such narratives, while appealing to certain fringe segments of the party, do more harm than good by undermining the public’s trust in the very system they dominated recently.
As it stands, this burgeoning undercurrent within the Republican party is cause for concern. Claims of fraud and rigged voting systems, without any supporting evidence, can only serve to diminish trust and confidence in the electoral process for voters of both parties alike.
While there should always be room for scrutiny and accountability, there must be a distinction between meaningful conversation backed by evidence, and fear mongering based on unfounded claims. As the situation continues to unfold, it’s clear that speculative theories aren’t just limited to Democrats, but have managed to find their way into every corner of the political spectrum.
Florida’s Secured Election System Under Attack by Conspiracy Theorists appeared first on Real News Now.
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