Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial elections bill into law on Thursday that has sparked both praise and critisms thoruihgout the state, and country.
After the bill signing on Thursday, Democratic attorney Marc Elias said that he had filed suit against it on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Florida, the Black Voters Matter Fund, and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans on the grounds that it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried held a press conference slamming DeSantis in what she called a “cowardly act.”.
“He signs a piece of legislation that takes away our freedoms and today he took away our rights to vote. I am outraged. You should be outraged,” said Fried.
Numerous media organizations, such as The New York Times, hit their keyboards and cranked out headlines that blasted into twitterverse.
“Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed new voting restrictions into law on Thursday that will make it more difficult for people to vote by mail and use popular ballot drop boxes. The governor gave Fox News an exclusive to broadcast the bill signing ceremony,” the NYT tweeted out.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio shot back on Twitter saying, “Just like a ministry of propaganda they activate to spread lies, distortions & misinformation The truth is the new #Florida law doesn’t make it more difficult to vote by mail, It makes it more difficult for political organizations to go out & collect thousands of ballots.”
“Florida took action this legislative session to increase transparency and strengthen the security of our elections,” said DeSantis. “Floridians can rest assured that our state will remain a leader in ballot integrity. Elections should be free and fair, and these changes will ensure this continues to be the case in the Sunshine State. I’d like to thank our legislative leaders on this issue – Senate President Wilton Simpson, House Speaker Chris Sprowls, Senator Dennis Baxley, and Representative Blaise Ingoglia.”
The election reform bill, SB90, bans ballot harvesting, prohibits the unsolicited mass mailing of ballots, increases election transparency, and prohibits private money from administering elections.
While Florida already requires identification to vote, Senate Bill 90 will require additional identification information when changing any voter registration information, or requesting a vote by mail ballot, preventing fraud and securing the voter rolls.
Under this law, a person may not handle more than two ballots other than those of immediate family members. There is an exemption for ballots collected during supervised voting at assisted living facilities and nursing homes to make sure no undue burden is caused for Florida’s most vulnerable.
The proposal bans the mass mailing of ballots, ensuring that vote-by-mail ballots are only sent to the individuals that requested them, and only if requested for each election cycle they intend to vote by mail.
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