Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody recently encouraged vigilance in spotting and reporting voter fraud.
Moody spoke August 26 at the Florida Tax Collectors Association Annual Conference.
“For many Floridians, tax collectors are the face of the government,” Moody said in her remarks Monday. “Tax collectors help them obtain their first driver’s license and can even help them register to vote. Florida has taken great steps to ensure the integrity of our elections.
“Today, I encouraged tax collectors to help us keep Florida elections secure by posting information about Florida’s Voter Fraud Hotline — so Floridians know how and where to report suspicious activity.”
At the conference Monday in Orlando, Moody asked tax collectors to post the Office of Election Crimes and Security information in offices across the state so Floridians know where and how to report illegal voter registration.
That request follows efforts by Moody to encourage elected leaders to provide the public with information to anonymously report criminal activity by dialing **TIPS and by displaying other public-safety messages aimed at spotting and preventing consumer fraud.
In 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis created the Department of State’s Office of Election Crimes and Security to conduct preliminary investigations into irregularities or fraud involving voter registration, voting, candidate or issue petition activities, or any other alleged violations of Florida’s Election Code.
According to the website, OECS has reviewed and investigated more than 3,000 complaints and allegations of election fraud. Additionally, OECS has initiated more than 1,300 independent investigations.
Floridians who observe or witness a potential case of elections fraud can report it by calling the Voter Fraud Hotline at 1(877) 868-3737 or filling out an Elections Fraud Complaint by clicking here.
Earlier this month, Moody filed an amicus brief with 23 other state AGs urging the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States to hear Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota and confirm that states can make rules governing their own elections, including requiring voters to show proof of citizenship.
“In Border Czar Harris’s America, where more than 10 million illegal immigrants have been given a free pass into our country, proof-of-citizenship requirements are a simple, common-sense protection for the integrity of our elections,” Moody said. “Florida requires an ID to cast a ballot, and this week, we joined 23 other states to ask SCOTUS to hear a vital case about citizenship for voter registration.”
The brief argues that the National Voter Registration Act does not prohibit states from ensuring that only citizens register to vote and that it doesn’t preempt a state’s right to regulate its presidential elections or to restrict how states conduct elections.
Many states, including Florida, require that voters be United States citizens. However, courts have chipped away at the states’ authority to secure their own elections. “Voting by noncitizens, both legal and illegal, is real. The typical rejoinder is to claim that few noncitizens vote. On its own terms, though, the answer at least acknowledges that the problem persists. But it also ignores that even small voting blocs can have outsized effects on electoral outcomes. That effect is most obvious in local elections,” the brief reads.
Moody is joined on the amicus brief by attorneys general in 23 other states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.