TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An elections bill under consideration in Florida took a step forward Wednesday as critics argue it walks back many of the elements that made the Sunshine State a nationwide model in the recent presidential election.
Committee Substitute Senate Bill 90, approved by a 4-2 vote along party lines with Republicans in support, would ban ballot drop boxes and force voters to sign up for mail-in ballots every year instead of the current two-year process.
"It’s not that there was a debacle so we have to fix it. But do we have to wait for a debacle," said Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Lady Lake, according to the Associated Press. He is supporting the Senate version of the bill.
There were 4.8 million vote-by-mail ballots counted in November, which was about 44 percent of the more than 11 million votes cast in total, data from the Florida Department of State shows.
And despite claims of ballot fraud, Republicans have not produced examples of widespread abuse. The AP this week reported a study by a professor at the University of Florida found that the state initially rejected 1 percent of mail-in ballots because of mismatched or missing signatures -- and most were able to fix the issue and have their ballot counted.
Gov. Ron DeSantis last month, while saying Florida had "the most transparent and efficient election anywhere," announced proposed legislation aimed at strengthening what he called "election integrity."
"Why can’t we take something that’s working well and put guardrails on it," Baxley said, "and keep it safe so it doesn’t have a debacle and create all this discord?"
The Division of Elections checks each voter registration application to verify their identity and ensure that person can vote, according to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Election. All ballots and equipment are monitored, as well.
"That rule was followed to the letter..." Lake County Elections Supervisor Alan Hays, a former Republican state senator, said during a hearing of the Government Accountability and Oversight committee. He called the bill a "travesty."
"There have been all sorts of allegations about this or that or the other, but I have yet to see anybody who can give us concrete evidence that rule was violated."
Democrats, worried that the coronavirus pandemic would keep voters at home on Election Day, pushed to get voters to apply for absentee ballots that could be dropped in the mail or in a secure drop box. Republican mail-voters typically outnumbered Democrats in previous elections, except in 2020.
But now, Democrats and voter rights groups believe that there are political motives in play in Florida and elsewhere to restrict Americans' right to vote, the AP reports.
"Changing the vote-by-mail process, especially following a major election, makes no sense unless you’re looking for ways to confuse voters into not voting or to make it harder so they don’t vote," said Trish Neely, speaking on behalf of the Florida League of Women Voters of Florida to the AP.
Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards responded to the bill by saying it still can be changed.
"It’s early in the legislative session, so there is still plenty of time for this legislation to be amended," she said in a statement. "I hope that Florida’s lawmakers choose not to restrict voters’ opportunities to make their voice heard."
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