Florida Election Law Changes
Governor Ron DeSantis has signed SB 90 to make voting harder for Floridians. The provisions are aimed at restricting and making more difficult absentee voting, mail-in voting, ballot drop boxes, voter registration drives, and returning the voter’s ballots to election offices.
In general, the bill is a solution looking for a problem as Florida’s elections went smoothly last fall. Florida local election officials from both parties opposed the bill. The only instance of fraud was a fake candidacy created in Miami Dade that may have cost a Democratic state Senator’s re-election.
The bill does not ban ballot drop boxes, but does limit them to early voting. The bill bans delivery of more than two mail-in ballots. In other words, you can take in the ballots for only two elderly and disabled voters in your neighborhood at a time down to the local election center. Floridians will need to give their driver’s license numbers, the last four digits of their SSN, or their state issued ID to request an absentee ballot. Candidate’s observers will be able to more closely watch and dispute the ballot counting. Floridians will have to quite frequently update their requests for mail-in ballots in order to keep receiving them.
Trump won the state of Florida by over 350,000 votes in 2020. This was not a squeaker. Governor DeSantis is up for re-election next year, and his last election was a squeaker.
Litigation has been filed today, May 6, 2021, challenging the new laws discriminatory impacts and the legislature’s discriminatory intent to disenfranchise minority voters. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/552157-floridas-new-voting-law-immediately-hit-with-lawsuits.
References: https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2021/04/29/florida-voting-rules-bill-sb-90
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/90
http://www.floridapoliticalreview.com/florida-gop-eyes-2022-with-new-voter-restrictions/
https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/state/florida