After U.S Sen. Tim Scott called out Democrats for misinformation surrounding Georgia’s voting laws, the Florida legislature went ahead and passed their own election bills. S.B 90 will be aimed at increasing election integrity in the wake of the 2020 election by imposing stricter restrictions on mail-in voting and limit the ballot drop boxes compared to current law.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said the bill will ensure that Florida remains “a national leader in election security, integrity, and transparency.” It passed in the Senate 23-17 and in the House 77-40.
Heritage Action, an organization that defends election integrity efforts, advocated for Florida’s voting measures and partnered with many other grassroots activists to ensure that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat in Florida. They said there are multiple ways to vote in Florida and that this only strengthens Florida’s election security.
The bill will add ID requirements for those requesting to vote by mail, such as providing a driver’s license/state ID or the last four digits of their Social Security Number, as well as require that information to vote and request for mail ballots. The new bill would require voters to reapply for mail ballots each two-year election cycle, instead of every two cycles.
The bill would also place limits on dropbox accessibility, such as when it can be accessed and who is supervising the drop box during early voting hours. Those who violate dropbox measures and make them accessible anytime other than those periods are subject to a $25,000 civic penalty fine. It would also give more power to partisan poll watchers and expand the radius of outside groups being able to influence voters up to 150 feet.
“It’s easier now than it’s ever been. You have vote by mail. You got early (voting). You got the dropbox and you got in-person (voting). And 20 to 30 years ago, you did not have this many opportunities. I believe that every legal vote should count. I believe one fraudulent vote is one too many. And I’m trying to protect the sanctity of our elections,” said Republican State Senator Travis Hutson.
A recent Rasmussen Report survey found that a vast majority of U.S voters believe that voter ID is necessary for state election integrity laws and that they disagree with the radical left’s Georgia state boycott. The survey was taken April 1 and 4 among 1,000 likely U.S voters.
89% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats surveyed that they believe voter ID laws are necessary for a free and fair election. The survey also asked respondents if they support Major League Baseball’s decision to pull their All-Star Game out of Georgia over election laws. MLB’s decision will cost Atlanta and its small businesses as much as $190 million in revenue. 55% said they opposed the boycotts, 37% said they supported it, and 13% responded that they were unsure.
Radical left politicians – from President Biden to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – have described Georgia’s election laws as “Jim Crow laws” and that they are the greatest threat to modern democracy in America, adding that the voter laws are forms of suppression. Yet another Rasmussen Reports survey found that a majority of voters, including a majority of Black voters, do not believe voter identification laws are discriminating or represent forms of voter suppression. It’s not about civil rights or a racial past, but about rigging elections in the future.
Sen. Scott pushed back against Democrats distorting the facts around voting laws and explains that the laws expand your access to the polls. He said you’d be able to vote earlier in Georgia than in Democrat-run New York and that if you need an ID to get on a plane, you need an ID to vote.
Democrats have made “racist” an empty word that means nothing and they’ll keep using it to fight voting laws until they can use it for something else. While the law aims to suppress illegally cast votes, Democrats will automatically say it pertains to voter suppression (without ever reading any part of the bill).
In one of the nation’s most politically important states, election integrity is vital.
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