The Florida Senate late Friday passed a voting law package that would create an office to pursue election-related crimes. The state’s Republican-controlled upper chamber voted 23–15 for the measure, Senate Bill 524, on party lines, sending the bill to the state’s Republican-controlled House, which is set to vote on the measure and send it to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk next week. The legislation, if passed, would create a 15-person Office of Election Crimes and Security under the Department of State to investigate fraud allegations. Under the measure, the governor would also be required to appoint 10 special officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to augment the office. They would be dedicated to investigating violations of election law. Current state law allows the governor to appoint such officers but does not require him to do so. DeSantis, a Republican, first proposed the need for an election police unit in 2021. In January …