MIAMI – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday stamped his signature on a law that changes the rules for voting by mail and, according to his critics, is aimed at “ suppress voters ”rather than to ensure“ electoral integrity. ”
The SB law – 90 makes “Floridians can rest assured that our state will continue to be a leader in ballot integrity,” stressed DeSantis during the signing ceremony.
Passed in late April by the Florida Congress, which is dominated by the Republican Party, the The law was sanctioned in a ceremony held in a hotel in Palm Beach (southeast of the state), without access to the media, except for the Fox News channel, as reported by networks such as NBC.
Both the Democratic Party and civil organizations denounced since the project was presented in the state Congress that this law can reduce the par Voter turnout of minorities, seniors, and those with disabilities by making it more difficult for them to vote by mail.
Various organizations, such as the League of Women Voters of Florida , the “Black Voters Matters” Fund, the Florida Retired Citizens Alliance, announced that they will file a lawsuit to prevent the law from being applied on the grounds that it violates the constitutional rights of Floridians.
For his part, former US Attorney General Eric Holder said that Republicans fear “that if everyone can vote and participate in our democracy, they will not be able to cling to power. ”
The democrat regretted that in Florida, as well as in Ohio and Texas, advance “anti-voter” bills.
“The Republican Party continues to show that its only concern is to maintain power, even if it comes at the expense of our democracy ”, he pointed out.
“ L he warning lights for democracy in Florida are red, flashing and on fire, ”said also Democrat Hillary Clinton , former Secretary of State and former US presidential candidate.
A fundamental fact
Florida Democrats ask to read the law in light of statistical data of the elections of 2020, in which the record number of 4.8 million people who voted by mail was reached.
Of them 2.1 million were registered as Democrats, 1.5 million as Republicans and one million as independents.
“Governor DeSantis and Florida Republicans are more interested in holding on to power to guarantee fair access to our democracy, ” said this Thursday Manny Díaz , president of the Florida Democratic Party, in a statement.
With the new law, those who want to vote by mail will have to request the ballot every election cycle l and not every two as is currently done.
The SB – 90 also restricts the use of ballot boxes to cast the vote during early voting days, which until now were available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There will also be a signature verification, which means that voters must have theirs registered in the file of the electoral authorities.
According to a statement from the Florida Government, “the new law strengthens the identification of voters, prohibits the mass mailing of ballots, prohibits the collection of ballots and prohibits private money from managing the elections in our state. ”
They question the need for the SB – 90
DeSantis said today that with this law Florida leads the states where the possibility of fraud is minimal . “I think they are the strongest measures for electoral integrity in the country,” he indicated.
Critics of the Republican governor, who, according to former president Donald Trump , could be his running mate if he competes in the elections of 2024, they have asked him about the need for this law if, as he himself said , in Florida the presidential elections in 2020 were the “most transparent and efficient in the country.”
Trump, who has resided in Florida since leaving the White House on 20 last January and continues to insist that he was the victim of fraud Electoral candidate, he was the most voted candidate in this state, ahead of today’s president, Democrat Joe Biden.
In Georgia a law was passed in March along the same lines as the SB – 90 and in Texas, another state under Republican control, an attempt is underway to follow those same steps.
The representative of Florida Congressional Democrat Charlie Christ , who has announced that he will compete with DeSantis for governor in 2022, called the new law “pathetic.”
Both Wilton Simpson, president of the Florida Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chris Sprowls, said Thursday that Florida is being “ proactive ”to avoid losing the excellence achieved in elections in the state.
Simpson stated that everyone loses when people do not have confidence in the integrity of an election. “That is what we want to avoid. We do not want to go back “, he stressed.
In the same sense, Sprowls spoke, who indicated that with the variety of voting options,” must come the guarantee of security, responsibility and transparency. ”
When the state Congress passed the law, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only Democrat on the state executive, said Republicans were restricting voting by mail because more Democrats than Republicans resorted to that voting modality in 2020.
“It is the suppression of voters, simple and simply, “he stressed.
The president of the Florida Democratic Party said today that this law” is not about electoral integrity, it is about a blatant suppression of voters, simply because they can ” .
“This is not about Republicans against Democrats, but Republicans against democracy, and democracy in Florida is suffering because Republicans are in power.”
According to the state government, the law SB – 90 achieves a “reasonable balance for families and individuals living in centers care for the elderly and, at the same time, prohibits the collection of votes by political agents. ”
Under this law, a person cannot handle more than two ballots other than the immediate family members.