The state’s new voter fraud units have found few cases since the midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Statewide law enforcement units created after the 2020 presidential election to investigate voter fraud have investigated scattered complaints more than two weeks into the term, but have provided no indication of systemic problems.

That’s what election experts expected and led critics to suggest the new units were more about politics than rooting out widespread abuse. Most cases of electoral fraud are already investigated and prosecuted at the local level.

Florida, Georgia and Virginia created statewide special units after the 2020 elections, all pushed by Republican governors, attorneys general or legislatures.

“I’m not aware of any significant fraud detections on Election Day, but that’s not surprising,” said Paul Smith, senior vice president of the Campaign Legal Center. “The whole concept of voter impersonation is such a horribly overblown thing. It doesn’t change the outcome of the election, it’s a crime, you risk going to jail, and there’s a good chance you’ll get caught. It’s a rare phenomenon.”

The absence of widespread fraud matters because lies about the 2020 presidential election spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies have penetrated deep into the Republican Party and eroded confidence in the election. By this year’s election, 45% of Republicans did not trust that the votes would be counted correctly.

An Associated Press investigation found that there was no widespread fraud in Georgia or the five other battleground states where Trump contested his 2020 loss, and so far there is no indication of it in this year’s US election. Certification of findings goes smoothly in most states with few complaints.

In Georgia, where Trump tried to pressure state officials to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss, a new law gives the law enforcement agency, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the authority to launch unsolicited investigations into alleged electoral fraud. from the state. electoral officials. The alleged violation should be significant enough to change or call into question the outcome of the election.

GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said the agency has not launched any investigation under the statute. The agency is assisting the secretary of state’s office with an investigation into tampering with voting equipment in Coffee County in 2021, but this is the only recent investigation into voter fraud, it said in an email.

That breach, which came to light earlier this year, involved local officials in a county that voted for Trump by nearly 40 percentage points in 2020 and several prominent supporters of the former president.

State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat who opposed additional authority for the office, said the lack of investigation validates criticism that the law is unnecessary. But he said just the prospect of a GBI investigation could intimidate people who want to serve as pollsters or take on another role in the voting process.

“In this situation, there was no real problem to solve,” Clark said. “This was a solution in search of a problem, and we should never legislate like that.”

Florida has been the most visible state, creating its Office of Crime and Election Security this year and following through on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2021 pledge to crack down on unspecified voter fraud.

The office is under the Florida Department of State. Investigate allegations and then have law enforcement prosecute violations.

DeSantis announced this summer that the election unit had arrested 20 people for illegally voting in the 2020 election, when the state had 14.4 million registered voters. It was the first major election since a state constitutional amendment restored voting rights to felons, except those convicted of murder or sex offenses or those who still owe fines, taxes or restitution.

Court records show the 20 people were able to register to vote despite previous felony convictions, apparently leading them to believe they could legally vote. At least part of the confusion stems from language on voter registration forms that require applicants to swear that they are not felons or, if they are, that their rights have been restored. The forms do not specifically ask for prior convictions for murder and criminal sexual assault.

One of the defendants, Robert Lee Wood, 56, had his home surrounded by police early one morning, who knocked on his door and arrested him. He spent two days in jail. Wood’s attorney, Larry Davis, said his client does not believe he is breaking the law because he was able to register to vote without problems. Davis called the law enforcement response “over the top” in the case.

Wood’s case was dismissed by a Miami judge in late October on jurisdictional grounds because it was brought by the state attorney’s office rather than local Miami prosecutors. The state is appealing the decision.

Andrea Mercado, executive director of Florida Rising, an independent political activist organization focused on economic and racial justice in the state, said the disproportionate targeting of such potential voters sends a “scary message to any returning citizens who want to register to vote. .” He said his group found many of them were confused about the requirements.

“You have to go to the 67 county websites and find their individual lawsuits to see if you have a fine or a citation,” he said. “It’s a labyrinthine ordeal.”

Weeks before the Nov. 8 election, the Bureau of Crime and Election Security began notifying Florida counties of hundreds of registered voters who would potentially be ineligible to vote because of prior convictions. In letters to counties, state officials asked election officials to verify the information and then take steps to prevent ineligible voters from voting.

“I’ve heard stories of voters who can vote but have a criminal conviction in the past and are now afraid to register and vote,” said Michael Pernick, a voting attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He called it “deeply disturbing.”

A spokesman for the new office did not provide information on other actions it may have taken or investigations it may have conducted related to this year’s primary and general elections.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced he would form his election integrity unit in September, saying it would “help restore confidence in our democratic process in the Commonwealth.”

The unit’s formation came in a state where Republicans swept all three statewide offices in the 2021 election, including Miyares’ defeat of a Democratic incumbent.

Her spokeswoman, Victoria LaCivita, said in a written response to questions from The Associated Press that the office had received complaints related to this month’s election, but could not comment on whether any investigations had been made.

In addition, EIU “successfully obtained an appeal and a motion to dismiss” in an effort to force the state to abandon the use of electronic voting machines to count ballots and institute a statewide hand count.

Miyares’ office said he was not available for an interview, but in an October letter to the editor of The Washington Post, he said there was no widespread fraud in Virginia or elsewhere during the 2020 election. He said his office already had jurisdiction over election-related matters, but that he was restructuring it into a unit that would cooperate more with the electoral community to remove any doubt about the fairness of the election.

Smith, of the Campaign Legal Center, said there are real issues surrounding election security, including protecting voters, poll and poll workers, and securing voting equipment. But he said Republican measures to strengthen what they often call “election integrity” to combat voter fraud are often tied to something else.

“It’s a myth that’s been created so they can justify making it harder for people to vote,” he said.

Izaguirre reported from Tallahassee, Florida, and Thanawala from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jake Bleiberg in Dallas; Bob Christie and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix; Sarah Rankin of Richmond, Virginia; and Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, and contributed to this report.