Florida鈥檚 Senate Rules Committee is preparing to scale down a proposal that would have done away with ballot drop boxes in the name of election reform. Lawmakers will continue to discuss the bill Friday or next week, after time ran out in the committee before a vote could be taken. The plan is still under fire from Democrats and voting rights groups who say the rest of the bill makes it harder for Floridians to vote.
Sen. Dennis Baxley鈥檚 (R-Ocala) bill isn鈥檛 so much a response to Florida鈥檚 elections鈥攚hich went largely problem free during the last cycle, but to what he describes as issues in other states and future problems:
鈥淣o, I鈥檓 not trying to present a case that there鈥檚 a problem," Baxley said in response to questions by Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer. "I鈥檓 presenting a case that we can prevent ever having a problem."
For more than two hours Wednesday, Baxley battled amendments to his bill, and defended it against accusations that the proposal would disenfranchise voters. The 2020 Election cycle saw a surge in overall voter participation, fueled largely by more Black voters casting ballots. Democratic Sen. Randolph Bracy worries the proposed changes will result in fewer people being able to vote.
鈥淓veryone signs up to vote electronically to vote now鈥nd now we鈥檙e going to eliminate all those people鈥ho鈥檝e signed up electronically. I鈥檝e never seen anything like this and I can鈥檛 believe we鈥檙e sitting here debating this, but as Brian Pitts would say, 鈥榶a鈥檒l are going to do what you鈥檙e going to do anyway鈥�. I don鈥檛 support this. I think it鈥檚 egregious. I鈥檓 a no," Bracy said.
Bracy is especially concerned about provisions that would require signature's to match those already on file with local elections supervisors, and are less than four years old. That, says Bracy, precludes people who may have registered to vote electronically and have electronic signatures which could be very different from their "wet" signatures.
The newest iteration of Baxley鈥檚 proposal allows supervisors to use ballot drop boxes only during early voting. They wouldn鈥檛 be available after-hours, and, the bill requires additional verification for people picking up ballots for others, and expands the number of people who can directly observe ballot verification鈥攁llowing people to be in 鈥渧ery close鈥� proximity to canvassers but not defining what 鈥渧ery close鈥� is. Mark Earley, Leon County Supervisor of Elections and vice president of the statewide association, calls the signature matching provisions disruptive.
鈥淭hat potentially is going to greatly disrupt our ability to validate vote by mail ballots. The likelihood of it disenfranchising voters," he said before being cut off by Committee Chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo.
The proposal places limitations on what can be given to voters standing in line, though there is some exemption for elections volunteers or office employees from that part. While most speakers on the bill oppose it, the measure did get some non-lawmaker support.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 compromise our election process in the name of convenience. I support Sen. Baxley鈥檚 bill because it makes VBM more secure and on par with in-person voting," said Helena Sims, speaking during public comment.
Passidomo says the committee could take the bill up again as soon as Friday.
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