Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a sweeping voting reform bill on Thursday morning. Senate bill 90 bans ballot harvesting, ramps up voter identification requirements, bans unsolicited mail-in voting, and outlaws private money from administering elections.
"I have what we think is the strongest election integrity measures in the country. We're making sure we're enforcing voter ID…We're also banning ballot harvesting. We're not gonna let political operatives go and get satchels of votes to dump them in some drop box,” DeSantis said while signing the bill live on Fox and Friends. “We're also prohibiting mass mailing of balloting. We've had absentee voting in Florida for a long time. You request the ballot. You get it. And you mail it in. But to just indiscriminately send them out is not a recipe for success."
On @foxandfriends this morning, Florida's @GovRonDeSantis signed into law a sweeping election integrity bill to better secure the state's elections:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 6, 2021
"Me signing this bill here says, 'Florida, your vote counts, your vote is going to be cast with integrity and transparency...'" pic.twitter.com/SHLLjsZrKF
Floridians can rest assured that their votes count and that Florida will continue to conduct elections that are efficient, transparent and secure. https://t.co/0URffO6WZb pic.twitter.com/tO7pWNwILD
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 6, 2021
DeSantis’ bill was immediately slammed as “voter suppression” by Democrats, and prominent progressive election lawyer Marc Elias has already filed suit.
??BREAKING: Minutes after Governor DeSantis signs new voter suppression law, @LWVFlorida, @BlackVotersMtr, @ActiveRetirees file federal court lawsuit.
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) May 6, 2021
Proud to be part of the legal team supporting these great organizations protecting the right to vote!https://t.co/KvPqM6wvhA
The bill mirrors the voting reform law recently signed by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) that stirred national outrage over common-sense provisions.