Florida Republicans push bill to make it harder to vote by mail, ban drop boxes

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Florida Republicans are pushing a bill to make it more difficult to vote by mail with measures that include banning drop boxes and requiring voters to request a mail-in ballot before every election cycle.

The Florida Committee Substitute Senate Bill 90 prevents local elections’ supervisors from sending ballots to voters without a request, and it also increases the identification requirements.

Christina White, Miami-Dade County’s supervisor of elections, was among the election officials who challenged the need for the bill adding the changes are costly and unnecessary.

Members of the League of Women Voters of Florida, a civic nonpartisan organization, are also standing against the bill and criticizing it as a tactic to suppress votes.

According to the Florida Division of Elections’ data, about 4.85 million people voted by mail last year in Florida. This includes about 510,960 in Miami-Dade County, about 474,400 in Broward County, and some 22,305 in Monroe County.

Both the Florida Senate’s Ethics and Elections Committee and the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee voted to move the bill forward.

Related links

• Read the proposed committee substitute
• Read Florida Senate Bill 90 as first filed
• Track SB 90 on LegiScan
  

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