Florida
Ballot Security
What Politicians Say
In November 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis praised the state’s handling of the election and asked why other states couldn’t be “more like Florida.” But he also claimed that legislatures in battleground states could ignore the election results and appoint Trump electors if they wished.
DeSantis later said that Florida should not “rest on our laurels” as he promoted one of the most aggressive election overhauls in the country.
While vote-by-mail had long been popular among Florida Republicans, including Trump, who voted by mail in the Florida primary 2020, the legislation added new hurdles to it, tightening ID requirements, restricting who can return ballots and limiting the use of ballot drop boxes. A federal judge later struck down some parts of the law.
In 2022, DeSantis signed another bill that created a special police force appointed by the governor that would look into election crimes and voter fraud. The state legislature initially appropriated $1.6 million for the office, less than DeSantis’ request for $5.7 million.
Ease of Voting
The election overhaul made it harder to request and turn in a mail-in ballot.
While voters in the past could request mail-in ballots for the next four years, the law now limits requests to the next two years.
Voters filling out a mail-in ballot application also need to provide a driver’s license number or other state ID or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The law also restricts the use of ballot drop boxes, requiring they only be available during early voting hours and monitored in person by an employee of the elections office.
Local elections administrators who leave a drop box unattended can be fined up to $25,000, part of a broader trend of criminalizing elections administration.
Read More: US Election Officials Face Their Biggest Threat Yet — Jail Time
The drop box restrictions were later struck down by US District Judge Mark Walker, who also blocked restrictions on providing food and water to people waiting in line to vote and stricter rules for voter registration drives.
In a 288-page ruling, Walker cited other legislation passed by the legislature in recent years, saying the state has a pattern of “disproportionately burdening Black voters.” Under the ruling, Florida would also need to get federal approval for similar restrictions in the future.
A federal appeals court blocked enforcement of Walker’s ruling.
Ballot Security
The election overhaul also put new restrictions on a practice that Republicans call “ballot harvesting,” in which campaigns and third-party groups collect mail-in ballots to be turned in.
Under the law, people in Florida would be limited to possessing two ballots apart from their own or those of immediate family.
Florida has had problems with “ballot brokers” in mayoral races in Miami in 1993 and 1997. In 2012, the chief of staff to a Democratic congressman pleaded guilty to a scheme to file hundreds of fraudulent mail-in ballot requests.
A grand jury report following the 2012 case specifically urged state officials to bar possession of more than two mail-in ballots.
How Politicians Responded to the 2020 Election
Attorney General Ashley Moody signed on to the Texas lawsuit before the Supreme Court, although emails obtained by the Tampa Bay Times later revealed that her department’s top lawyers thought the legal arguments in it were “weird” and “insane.”
US Senator Rick Scott and twelve of the state’s then-15 Republican US representatives objected to Biden electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania on Jan. 6. Eleven also signed an amicus brief supporting the Texas lawsuit.
As Florida governor in 2018, Scott also made baseless claims of voter fraud in his Senate run, harshly criticizing Democratic election officials as “unethical liberals” trying to “steal this election” during a televised press conference.
During a recount of that race, the Florida Department of State, which was under Scott’s control, opened an investigation into state Democrats’ handling of forms that allow voters to fix errors with their ballots. After an 18-month investigation, police said they found no proof that Democrats had tried to commit voter fraud.
Voting rights advocates argue that DeSantis’ new election police could launch similar investigations, adding to voter mistrust in the immediate aftermath of an election.