Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Monday defended his call for a federal investigation into alleged election irregularities in California, arguing that ballot harvesting creates opportunities for fraud and saying the Department of Justice should examine claims that voters were improperly influenced.
Speaking on Newsmax TV's "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren, Scott discussed a letter he sent to Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon urging the Justice Department to investigate what he described as potential election-related misconduct in California.
"First of all, there should not be any ballot harvesting anywhere in the country," Scott said.
Ballot harvesting, a practice that allows designated individuals to collect and return completed ballots on behalf of voters, is legal in some states, including California, but restricted or prohibited in others.
Scott said he moved to eliminate the practice during his tenure as Florida governor, arguing that it undermines confidence in elections.
"I got rid of it my first year as governor of Florida because it just reeks of fraud," he said.
The Florida Republican contrasted California's election system with Florida's handling of mail-in voting, which he said includes stronger safeguards.
"We do it right in Florida with mail-in ballots, but in California, they don't do it right," Scott said.
He criticized California's widespread distribution of mail ballots and questioned whether election officials can adequately verify voters' identities.
"They send ballots everywhere, and then you don't know who's voting," Scott said.
Scott also pointed to allegations that some individuals were paid to vote for Democratic candidates, though he did not cite specific evidence during the interview.
"And then you have all these people saying that they were paid to go vote for a Democrat candidate," he said.
The senator said he supports the Justice Department's involvement and expressed confidence that federal investigators would determine whether wrongdoing occurred.
"We're going to get to the bottom of this," Scott said.
"I'm glad the Department of Justice is focused on it — and we're going to get there," he said.
Scott’s June 12 letter urged the DOJ to investigate reports of voters being paid to register, voters listed at incorrect addresses, and other alleged irregularities in the June 2 Los Angeles mayoral primary.
He cited the DOJ’s prosecution of Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, a California petition circulator who admitted paying homeless residents on Skid Row to register to vote, and said the case raised broader concerns about election safeguards in California.
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