Politics & Government
‘Recipe For Disaster': Dems Say New Voting Restrictions Would Make It Harder For Floridians To Vote By Mail
"Are we afraid of people voting?" Sen. Polsky asked. "Are we afraid of voting by mail?" Other Democrats were also opposed, the report says.
FLORIDA — A GOP-controlled committee in the Senate on Tuesday approved a rushed, 45-page bill that creates new and complicated voter restrictions, while Democrats argued that the legislation isn’t necessary.
“I see a recipe for disaster,” said State Sen. Annette Taddeo, representing part of Miami-Dade. She said the bill, SB 524, doesn’t fix a problem, in part because the 2020 election in Florida was considered pristine.
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Taddeo, along with Democratic Sens. Tina Polsky and Lori Berman, of South Florida, asked numerous questions about the bill, criticized several issues, and voted no. But they were outnumbered by Republican members who supported the legislation.
The bill includes creating an “Office of Election Crimes and Security” in Florida’s Department of State, to allow special officers to investigate election law violations, though other agencies already do that work.
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And when mailing in a ballot, voters would have to write the last four digits of their drivers’ license, state ID card number, or Social Security numbers on the ballot envelope. Because all of that information is sensitive, they’d have to insert that envelope into yet another.
“These 4 envelopes? Oh my God,” said Berman, during the Ethics and Elections Committee meeting.
“More money, more putting it together, more postage. It sounds so crazy…….it is making it harder and harder to vote by mail.”
Sen. Polsky said, “Are we afraid of people voting? Are we afraid of voting by mail?”
The new bill that surfaced on Monday comes at a time when a federal trial is underway in Tallahassee over voting restrictions from last year’s legislation, SB 90, which has already interfered with the ability to register voters and help them cast ballots.
“SB 90 is being mitigated, Polsky said at the committee meeting Tuesday. “Let that play that out.”
But Republicans are pursuing the bill, which has several more steps before a final approval.
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