The Lincoln Project is accusing Gov. Ron DeSantis of favoritism with Florida's election process, summing up his actions as "tyranny."
Bearing that word as its title, a new ad released Monday from the Lincoln Project pillories DeSantis for creating the state election police unit and providing flexibility to three Republican stronghold counties directly hit by Hurricane Ian. It's part of a dichotomy the Republican "Never-Trump" PAC tries to paint between voter intimidation and favoritism.
The ad leans heavily against the Office of Election Crimes and Security, a law enforcement agency the Republican Governor requested from lawmakers to investigate and prosecute voter fraud cases in the Sunshine State. The minute-long ad shows body camera footage, published last week, from the first round of arrests conducted by the election police, which targeted felons suspected of voting illegally during the 2020 election.
"Ron DeSantis proudly restricted voter rights in Florida," the ad says. "His elections police force arrests people he doesn't want to vote."
The ad notes that officials told many of the individuals, mostly African Americans, that they were eligible to vote. It then cuts to DeSantis' own words from the press conference announcing the charges.
"It's not just going to be 20 arrests," he said. "This is the opening salvo."
On Friday, a Miami judge rejected the first of the cases, ruling that the Office of Statewide Prosecutor lacked jurisdiction to file charges.
The ad also hits DeSantis for creating voting accommodations for Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties, three Republican-plurality counties that were hit the hardest by Hurricane Ian late last month. Some critics have faulted DeSantis for not extending accommodations to Orange County and other inland counties that also received effects from Ian.
However, when Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm, it rendered many polling places in Lee County and elsewhere unusable. Election officials have not publicly shared those criticisms, and DeSantis Press Secretary Bryan Griffin says only those three counties requested that the state intervene.
That hasn't stopped the Lincoln Project from labeling DeSantis' executive order a tyrannical move.
"DeSantis uses fear and intimidation against voters he doesn't like and favoritism for those he does. That's not democracy. That's not voter integrity. Florida knows what to call it: tyranny."
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