Insisting on the myth that there was fraud in the 2020 elections, the Republicans want to create an electoral police.
Efforts to create police units dedicated to investigating electoral irregularities seek to calm the party’s base, millions of voters who remain convinced that widespread fraud cost Donald Trump his victory two years ago.
In Florida, Republican legislators approved a project in this sense promoted by Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential presidential candidate in 2024, who justified it by mentioning unspecified cases of fraud. A similar law in Georgia would have the Bureau of Investigation investigate fraud complaints without involving other agencies.
Republicans argue that special police powers are needed to restore confidence in the electoral process and uncover instances of fraud. Democrats and voting rights organizations say a new police agency is not needed as city and state authorities identify and prosecute potential fraud cases. Those units, on the other hand, could be manipulated for political ends.
A growing police presence could discourage many people from voting and participating in the electoral process, according to Daniel Griffith of Secure Democracy USA, an independent group that monitors access to the polls.
“People start to worry, they wonder if they are going to investigate them, if they are going to arrest them because they want to vote or for trying to help someone vote,” he said.
Voter fraud is rare. There are isolated cases, which are detected. An Associated Press investigation of the 2020 presidential election revealed 475 possible irregularities among 25.5 million votes in the six states in which Trump’s people questioned the results.
Despite this, false allegations of fraud abound among Republicans, who last year promoted a series of laws with new requirements for voting early or by mail in states controlled by that party, as well as other rules that some consider restrictive. .
