United States: Florida governor calls for election police

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, here, during a legislative session, Jan. 11, 2022, in Tallahassee, Florida.

AP - Phelan M. Ebenhack

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

While Donald Trump is still contesting his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, the very conservative governor of Florida is calling for the creation of an election police.

According to Ron DeSantis this new unit would be necessary to defend “

 ”.

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With our correspondent in Miami,

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has already asked his Parliament to release six million dollars to recruit 52 agents supposed to compose this future election police.

Their mission: to investigate and apprehend anyone who may have violated Florida election law.

Such a so-called "

" defense unit 

 does not fail to surprise American analysts, firstly because it would be a first in the United States, but also because in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential DeSantis had himself praised the exemplary conduct of the ballot in Florida.

It must be said that his state had been won by Donald Trump.

without proof

.

The subject has therefore become a priority for Republicans, two thirds of whom still consider the election of Joe Biden to be illegitimate.

The wary opposition

But this initiative arouses the greatest mistrust of the opposition, which fears that this election police will be used to harass civil rights activists who accuse the governor of wanting to complicate the

.

Florida Democrats therefore wrote to Justice Minister Merick Garland to denounce “

”.

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