Florida Governor signs GOP voting law critics call ‘un-american’
Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed new voting restrictions into law yesterday, staging a misleading, made-for-tv ceremony meant to tout his credentials on a top priority for the Republican Party’s base.
At a live bill-signing event aired exclusively on Fox News, Desantis claimed the new law would prevent fraud and restore confidence in Florida’s elections — although no evidence of widespread fraud has been found. The move made Florida the latest Republican-led state to enact voting restrictions over the objections of critics who say the law only makes it harder for people, particularly the elderly and people of colour, to vote.
But Desantis’ unusual promotion of the bill — on the Gop-friendly morning show Fox & Friends — demonstrated the rising Republican leader’s confidence the new law would only boost his standing.
“Right now I have what we think is the strongest election integrity measures in the country,” the governor said.
Florida’s new law restricts when ballot drop boxes can be used, and who can collect ballots — and how many. It mandates that drop boxes must be guarded, and available only when elections offices and early voting sites are open. To protect against what Republicans call “ballot harvesting”, someone can only collect and return the ballots of immediate family, and no more than two from unrelated people.
“I’m actually going to sign it right here,” Desantis said as he signed a piece of paper live on television.
A spokesperson for the governor, Taryn Fenske, said later that Desantis did not sign the actual bill on camera.
Even Fox News appeared taken aback by the stunt. It later issued a statement saying it had booked Desantis’ appearance “as an interview and not as a live bill signing”.
It’s the latest victory in the nationwide push by Republicans to restrict access to the polls. The campaign has been fuelled by former President Donald Trump’s false claim that his re-election was stolen from him, an assertion widely repeated across the Republican Party.
Voter advocates assailed the new law as a blatant attempt to impede access to the polls so Republicans might retain an advantage.
“It’s a despicable attempt by a one party ruled legislature to choose who can vote in our state and who cannot. It’s undemocratic, unconstitutional, and un-american,” said Patricia Brigham, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.
The league joined the Black Voters Matter Fund, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and others in assailing the new law in a federal lawsuit filed minutes after the signing. A separate federal suit filed in Tallahassee by the NAACP and Common Cause also says the law targets people who are black, Latino or disabled. AP