FL Red State Gov. Ron DeSantis Bans Ballot Harvesting and Zuckerbucks

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 524 to strengthen election integrity in the Sunshine State. The bill bans ballot harvesting and zuckerbucks type of political funding intended to manipulate election results in Florida. You see Florida is a shining Red State that promotes law and order to best protect its citizens. The Walt Disney company found that out when they challenged Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law. A good example why folks in blue states are moving to Florida in droves!

Governor DeSantis signs historic election integrity legislation into law. Video credit, RonDeSantis/Rumble

WPTV-5 reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that creates a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes, but that’s not all it does. The bill signed also eliminates ranked-choice voting for all elections in Florida. Senate Bill 524 specifically said it was “prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting to determine election or nomination to elective office; voiding existing or future local ordinances authorizing the use of ranked-choice voting.” This means cities or counties can’t pass their own laws on ranked-choice voting. In a ranked-choice voting system, voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots rather than selecting just one.

The battle for ranked-choice voting has been in Florida for over a decade. In 2007, Sarasota voted to use it in future municipal elections, but the state never certified the necessary software so it couldn’t be used. In 2021, the Clearwater City Council made plans for a ballot proposition that would allow the city to switch to ranked-choice elections, but the new law will make that decision moot. More than 50 cities nationwide have switched to ranked-choice voting, including San Francisco, Oakland, and New York. In addition, Maine and Alaska use it for statewide elections.

The bill takes several steps to ensure secure and fair elections, including:

1. Increasing the penalty for ballot harvesting to a third-degree felony,
2. Compelling the Department of State to strengthen ID requirements for mail-in ballots.
3. Creating an Office of Election Crimes and Security that will investigate election law violations.
4. Conducting annual voter roll checks to ensure that ineligible voters are omitted.

Incidentally, the Foundation for Government Accountability outlined reports regarding the alleged use of the so-called Zuckerbucks. Speaking about the bill, Governor DeSantis stated: Twenty years ago, nobody thought Florida was a prime example of how to conduct elections, but we have become a national leader by running the most secure elections in the country. We need to do more to ensure our elections remain secure. We have ended ballot harvesting, stopped drop boxes and the mass mailing of ballots, and banned Zuckerbucks, and this bill will give us more resources to make sure bad actors are held accountable. Many Florida Democrats oppose the bill. ABC News, citing Democrat Rep. Tracie Davis, DeSantis’ so-called election reform legislation is a continued attack by the Republicans to generate public distrust in the integrity of our elections. The bill is unnecessary and a waste of funds.

Contrary to such sentiment, election integrity laws have been shown to help and increase voter turnout. According to recent remarks made by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to Townhall, When states like Georgia and Texas pass smart election integrity legislation, they see a higher turnout and fewer issues at the polls. God blesses Florida and Ron DeSantis! 🙏