Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
House drops plan to void ballot requests
State pushes other measures to make voting by mail harder
Some Florida Republican lawmakers have abandoned one of the most criticized elements of their proposed changes in voting laws, which make it harder for people to vote by mail in future elections.
They have backed off the move to throw out all requests for mail ballots made for the 2020 presidential election, which, under previous law, meant that mail-in ballots would automatically be provided through the 2022 midterms.
Throwing out all the ballot requests — retroactively — would disproportionately hurt Democrats next year, when both Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will be seeking reelection.
The Florida House elections committee approved legislation
Monday to change many vote-bymail rules. The proposal would shorten the length of time voters’ requests to receive mail ballots remain in effect. But first it was amended so that it wouldn’t apply retroactively and cancel previous requests.
The state Senate’s plan to change vote-by-mail rules would cancel previous requests. What becomes law depends on whatever deal the Republicans who control the state Legislature ultimately reach.
Democrats and left-leaning voting advocates criticized multiple provisions of the legislation that won committee approval Monday. Republicans and conservative advocates praised the efforts. All Republicans on the panel voted “yes,” and all Democrats voted “no.”
Signature matching: The legislation would require elections officials to use the last signature they have on file for a voter to match a mail ballot instead of comparing several signatures.
Opponents said that could mean some voters’ signatures on ballots wouldn’t be accepted even if they should be. State Rep. Allison Tant of Tallahassee, a former state Democratic Party chairwoman, recalled scrawling her signature when she was in a hurry and said that could mean the more careful signature wouldn’t be accepted.
And David Ramba, representing the Florida Supervisors of Elections association, warned that the signature people provide at driver license offices — “you’re signing with that plastic pen on that little green screen” — might not look like the signatures people use to sign their mail ballots. State Rep. Blaise Ingoglia of Spring Hill, a former chairman of the state Republican Party and sponsor of the measure, described himself as someone with “fat fingers.” He acknowledged relying on the signature pad at the motor vehicle offices could present problems.
Drop boxes: People who return their mail ballots to drop boxes at supervisors of elections offices or at early voting sites would have to show identification proving they live at the address of the voter whose ballot they’re returning.
If it’s not the same address, they’d have to sign a declaration at the drop box that they’re a relative of the voter whose ballot they’re returning.
Some 1.5 million Florida voters used drop boxes to turn in their ballots in the 2020 election, especially as Election Day drew closer and an unusual series of Postal Service bottlenecks made some voters wary of using the mail to get their ballots in by the deadline.
Democrats warned the change could cause delays. Ingoglia dismissed that concern, saying it would “maybe take an extra second and a half.”
The House bill would also require a staffer to monitor drop boxes along with video surveillance at night. The Senate version would eliminate drop boxes entirely.
Restrictions on possessing ballots: Only relatives could return someone else’s vote-by-mail ballot.
The change, aimed at a practice called “ballot harvesting” that former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have criticized, would prohibit collection efforts by political parties, community groups and neighbors. State Rep. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, who spent 13 years working in a county elections office including time as deputy supervisor of elections, said the state shouldn’t tell voters “you’re not smart enough to give your ballot to someone you trust or you know.”
Public scrutiny: More access would be granted to people representing candidates and political parties wishing to scrutinize signature matching and duplication of ballots that need to be corrected if they are damaged or not filled out according to the instructions.
Ingoglia said that would increase public confidence. Tant said she was concerned that there was nothing to prevent frivolous challenges that could bog down the system.
Democrats are suspicious of the Republicans’ push to change election law, which is part of a nationwide effort even though 2020 voting in Florida was praised as virtually problem-free.
Tant said the Republicans are justifying their proposals based on preventing fraud, but the legislation does nothing about the fraud that resulted in criminal charges last week for a former Republican state senator who paid for a sham candidate to enter a MiamiDade County legislative race last year.
The sham candidate had the same last name as the Democratic incumbent and drew enough votes in the close race to make the Republican the winner.
Ingoglia said the changes are aimed at trying to increase the security of mail voting. He said the smooth 2020 elections don’t mean Florida system can’t be improved. “We should never rest on our laurels and we should never pass up an opportunity to make a good thing better.”