By John Haughey
The Center Square
February 24, 2021
Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, will carry a slate of election reform measures proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis into Florida’s 60-day 2021 legislation session when it begins next week.
DeSantis unveiled his proposals Friday evening before about 100 mostly mask-less supporters in the Hilton at Palm Beach International Airport during a campaign-like rally now being investigated by Palm Beach County officials for potentially violating federal, state and local COVID-19 guidelines.
While acknowledging “Florida held the smoothest, most successful election of any state in the country,” the governor said the state “can’t rest on [its] laurels” and said he would submit a package of proposed bills to tighten regulations on vote-by-mail ballot drop boxes, impose safeguards against “ballot harvesting” and tamp down on “get out the vote” campaigns.
DeSantis’ proposals, outlined in a later Governor’s Office news release, drew swift praise from House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby.
“Rather than resting on our laurels and congratulating one another on a successful 2020 election, our time is best spent preparing for 2022 and beyond,” they said in a statement. “We don’t want to backslide. We are here to keep Florida a model for the rest of America.”
The yet-to-be Florida bills join a nationwide wave of Republican-sponsored voting-related state legislation. According to the Brennan Center, as of Feb. 3, GOP lawmakers in 33 states had introduced more than 165 voting-related bills it deems “restrictive” compared to 35 in 15 states in 2020.
According to the Governor’s Office, DeSantis’ proposals provide “unprecedented election transparency for Florida.” Among provisions:
- Require drop boxes be monitored 24/7 as advised by Florida’s Secretary of State Office but largely ignored by the state’s 67 county elections supervisors. “Some of them just said go pound sand,” DeSantis said.
- Address “ballot harvesting” by prohibiting people from possessing ballots other than their own and their immediate family. Under state law, volunteers can now collect and drop off ballots.
- Ban “mass mailing of vote-by-mail ballots” by requiring only voters who request a ballot to receive a ballot.
- Require annual renewal of vote-by-mail requests. Right now, voters have two election cycles, four years, to update. Senate Bill 90, filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Lady Lake, would require renewal every two-year election cycle.
- SB 90 advanced through the Senate Ethics & Elections Committee 5-4 on Feb. 16 and faces two more panel hearings before a floor vote.
Vote-by-mail ballot signatures must match most recent signature on file. - Political parties/candidates must be allowed to observe signature-matching.
- Require elections supervisors post on websites “over-vote ballots” to be considered by canvassing boards before they meet.
- Prohibit counties from receiving grants from private organizations to “get out the vote.”
- Require “real-time reporting” of precinct-level voter turnout.
- Mandate elections supervisors report how many mail-in ballots requested, received, and left to be counted.
Ingoglia said Monday he’d file DeSantis’ proposals as bills and shepherd them to adoption.
“It’s about time we outlaw the possession of anybody else’s ballot but your own,” he said, also calling for campaign/party officials to be allowed to observe signature-matching and other certification procedures.
“That needs to be open, in front and transparent for the world to see and we will demand nothing less,” he said.
If heated opposition to Baxley’s relatively tame SB 90 is indicative, the measures will be fiercely contested.
“Florida’s 2020 election was historic – record-breaking turnout and virtually no issues. We should be building on it by making it easier for Floridians to make their voices heard – not harder,” said U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, a potential 2022 gubernatorial candidate. “Gov. DeSantis’ proposal goes in the wrong direction, it’s a nakedly partisan political play.”
No Charlie, it’s a good faith effort to ensure that legitimate votes are being cast by legitimate voters.
Why so worried?
Republicans have lost the popular vote for President in the great majority of the elections in the past three decades. They win by making it harder for people (especially POC and poorer people) to vote, by gerrymandering, and by divisive, undemocratic campaigns. Most of these election proposals (please don’t call them reforms) just add to the mix in the arsenal of weapons on a system that already works.
Mark, first of all your argument about winning the popular vote isn’t material as that isn’t how the winning presidential candidate is determined. That would be like me citing the fact that Donald Trump won the popular vote in approximately 83% of all the counties in the country and therefore should have been the victor. While I don’t believe for a minute that there was enough fraud to change the outcome of presidential election, to deny the presence of any fraud is just fantasy. We should remember that there were some local and statewide races that were decided by a small number of votes and the presence of ANY fraudulent vote risks compromising the validity of an election. Gerrymandering has been used by both parties as have deceptive campaign tactics. With the offering of early voting and mail-in voting with proper identification, there is no excuse for anyone not to be able to cast their ballot.
Keep pushing forward Gov. One legal person, one vote. You are leading Florida and we will be the model for other states to imulate. Thanks you.
Your title is already biased, it should say ‘All Voters’ rather than GOP. There must be the belief in this country that our elections are secure, period. Nothing else matters beyond this point. No new administration, regardless of stripe, will be trusted until this is completed. Keeps it up Governor, cannot wait until we move here.
Raise your hand if you think DeSantis would be proposing election reform measures if Trump had won.
He won Florida, didn’t he?
The point is, Trump’s baseless tweets, false statements, and stolen election rhetoric is spurring a renewed focus on election reform by Republican-led states. All designed to prevent the voter turnout that ultimately led to Trump’s defeat.
“Yeah, but….Donald Trump is a meanie” is not a cogent answer to my response.
The REAL point is …
1- Changing the subject is NOT a persuasive response/defense to the original question you stated.
2- The question presupposes that Trump lost Florida (which he didn’t) and that DeSantis wants to give Republicans some sort of future advantage by requiring Florida voting systems to TRANSPARENTLY authenticate voter registrations and ballots.
3- If transparency is of concern, an exposition of the the faults of transparency would be appreciated
4- Gerrymandering has been a tactic of many parties over the past 200 years and, although an important issue, is not relevant to the question at hand.
Your 4-point response is knee deep in assumptions, all of your own creations. It also ignores the obvious, which is the concerted effort by Trump Republicans to not only continue to cast doubt on the election results, but to punish other Republicans who don’t follow lock step. My question does not presuppose anything other than this glaring reality. Had Trump not lost the election, Republicans, including DeSantis, would not be trying to propose election reforms to address a problem that does not exist, nor has existed in any U.S. election in my 62 years on earth.
What does unveiling his proposals have to do with where he did it and people not wearing mask?
I live in Fernandina Beach and see lots of people going in and out of places where they are suppose
to wear mask .not wearing them. I don’t think these non mask wearers in Fernandina are being investigated.
Sounds to me like someone has a personal grudge against our governor.