Email shows far right voting fraud conspiracy group worked with top DeSantis aide

Records released by Gov. Ron DeSantis' office provide further evidence that a far-right group promoting debunked claims of widespread voting "irregularities" in Florida worked with the governor's team as it crafted a controversial bill last year creating a new election crimes office.

The leader of a pro-Trump women's organization started a new group called Defend Florida in the wake of former President Donald Trump's unfounded claims of voting fraud in the 2020 election. Defend Florida mobilized volunteers to collect “affidavits” that raised questions about whether voters cast legal 2020 ballots in Florida, a state Trump won.

By early 2022 Defend Florida had collected more than 5,000 affidavits in 34 counties, implying each is a possible instance of voter fraud. Local law enforcement officials and election supervisors dismissed those claims, saying they lacked evidence.

Yet DeSantis' office seems to have taken Defend Florida seriously and worked with their volunteers.

Last week the governor's office released more than 900 pages of emails to and from Stephanie Kopelousos, DeSantis' director of legislative affairs. Kopelousos is responsible for steering DeSantis' agenda through the Legislature.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/30/defend-florida-far-right-group-worked-with-desantis-office-on-election-bill/70057323007/