The 2020 General Election was a remarkable year for voter participation. Despite an unprecedented public health emergency in the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens cast their votes and made their voices heard in record numbers.
Unfortunately, Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Dennis Baxley (R-Lady Lake), and current Rep. Blaise Ingolia (R-Spring Hill) (former Chair of the Republican Party of Florida) now want to make it harder for voters to have their voices heard.
SB 90 and a newly-filed committee bill known as “PIE5” will change current law to stifle voter participation and confuse citizens. Among the many new restrictions and barriers to voting, these bills will:
- Retroactively cancel voters’ current vote-by-mail ballot requests, meaning a voter who submitted a request last year thinking it was valid through next year’s election will need to submit a new request.
- Make it a crime for voters to ask a trusted friend or caregiver to pick up or drop off a vote-by-mail ballot, limiting voting access for working, elderly, and mobility-impaired Floridians who cannot retrieve or turn in their ballot themselves.
- Eliminate secure vote-by-mail drop boxes, which more than 1.5 million Floridians used during the 2020 Election to safely, conveniently, and securely return their ballot.
- Prohibit anyone from handing out food and water to voters waiting in line to cast their ballot.
According to Florida Supervisors of Elections, this legislation will cost Floridians between $14 million to $16 million to educate the public on these new, unnecessary, and anti-democratic laws.
Your voice is needed now. Take action using our quick, one-click email form to ensure that every eligible Floridian has the opportunity to cast their vote and have it counted.