TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday tapped Pete Antonacci, a former prosecutor and onetime supervisor of elections, to move a controversial new state workplace charged with probing voting irregularities.
Lawmakers created the “Office of Election Crimes and Security,” championed by DeSantis, in a invoice handed in March. The workplace may have authority to independently launch investigations into purported elections wrongdoing.
Antonacci, a Tallahassee lawyer, involves workplace a yr after DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet appointed him as chief decide of the state Division of Administrative Hearings.
Antonacci, 73, has an extended historical past of being known as upon by state leaders as a fix-it man of kinds. His profession consists of stints as govt director of the South Florida Water Management District, president of the state business-recruitment company Enterprise Florida and state lawyer in Palm Beach County.
Former Gov. Rick Scott tapped Antonacci, a longtime ally, to take over as Broward County supervisor of elections after suspending Brenda Snipes from the publish in 2018 shortly earlier than Scott left workplace. After taking on as governor in January 2019, DeSantis successfully undid Snipes’ suspension however stored Antonacci in place.
In an announcement Wednesday, DeSantis mentioned he’s assured Antonacci “will lead the Office of Election Crimes and Security with integrity and ensure that Florida’s elections are the most secure in the nation.”
While Antonacci has an extended historical past of being a go-to man for Republicans, he additionally held a high-ranking place beneath former Attorney General Bob Butterworth, a Democrat.
His appointment Wednesday drew widespread reward, even from critics who preserve the brand new workplace is pointless and will undermine voters’ confidence within the state’s elections.
“This elections police thing is terrible. However, Antonacci is a pretty no-nonsense administrator. Even us Dems praised his work in Broward. He is by far the best that could be hoped for. So much so I could see DeSantis growing to hate him if he doesn’t go on witch hunts,” Matt Isbell, a Tallahassee-based advisor for Democrats, tweeted Wednesday.
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley additionally supported Antonacci’s appointment.
“I trust he will serve the people of Florida with an even hand to ensure the continued fairness and sanctity of our elections process. Peter understands the complexities of election law, and the need for a reserved and judicious application of the power this new office wields,” Earley mentioned in an announcement distributed by the governor’s workplace.
The GOP-controlled Legislature created the workplace this spring in a broader elections invoice, as Republicans all through the nation continued to feed a false narrative surrounding the result of the 2020 presidential election by which Democrat Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.
“I think this office will be very, very much appreciated,” DeSantis mentioned at a bill-signing ceremony in April. “And it will allow us to have people who really specialize in election security and election integrity.”
But critics argued adjustments within the invoice are meant to suppress voting by minorities and Democrats and probably lay the groundwork for Republican challenges to future election outcomes.
“Instead of working to increase access to the polls, Gov. DeSantis continues to prioritize disinformation and feed into lies that the 2020 elections were not accurate, which is super-ironic and disingenuous because in November 2020 the governor was bragging about how well our elections went,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, mentioned after the governor signed the invoice (SB 524).
DeSantis, who’s in search of re-election this yr and is gathering steam as a potential Republican presidential contender in 2024, intensified considerations concerning the state’s strategy to elections after appointing Cord Byrd — a conservative Republican former state House member — as secretary of state this yr. The Office of Election Crimes and Security is housed in Byrd’s division.
“In Florida, our freedoms and rights are protected by the rule of law and our elections are no different. Judge Antonacci’s formidable knowledge of Florida election law and his experience as a supervisor of elections will ensure that our laws are enforced and that voters have confidence in our elections,” Byrd mentioned in an announcement Wednesday.
In addition to having the facility to provoke inquiries, Antonacci’s workplace shall be accountable for “receiving and reviewing notices and reports generated by government officials or any other person regarding alleged occurrences of election law violations or election irregularities in this state.” The workplace additionally will oversee the state’s voter-fraud hotline.
The regulation additionally requires the appointment of Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers to analyze allegations of elections violations, with no less than one workplace in every area of the state.
During his tenure as Broward supervisor of elections, Antonacci expressed concern about “ballot harvesting,” which may embody amassing and delivering accomplished vote-by-mail ballots for a number of folks.
Antonacci advised The News Service of Florida in a 2020 interview that the difficulty “has been a worry” for years in South Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade County.
“It’s a knock on your door, particularly for senior citizens, saying, ‘I’m from good-guy organization and I’m here to help you with your ballot.’ … It undermines democracy,” Antonacci mentioned on the time.
The new regulation ratchets up monetary and prison penalties for violating elections legal guidelines, together with for poll harvesting. The penalty for poll harvesting was elevated from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.
Steve Vancore, whose public relations agency labored for the Broward elections workplace whereas Antonacci was supervisor, known as Antonacci “an organizational master” who’s adept at “putting processes in place” to rectify issues.
“There are valid reasons for people to worry about this office and its creation, but Peter Antonacci as its leader is not one of them. He’s a man of integrity, and I can’t honestly think of a better person to be at the helm. He manages his work with integrity. He’s got an incredible record of reforming or, in this case, forming organizations,” Vancore, who has identified Antonacci for 3 many years, advised the News Service. “There’s reasons for people to be anxious about what this office might mean but they should all breathe a sigh of relief because Pete Antonacci is going to be the leader.”
