TALLAHASSEE – All Voting is Local Florida state director Brad Ashwell issued the following statement urging the Legislature to reject Senate Bill 90 and House Bill 7041, which would severely reduce Floridians’ access to request and return vote by mail ballots:
“SB 90 and HB 7041 are thinly veiled attempts to suppress Floridians’ access and freedom to vote by mail. Rather than improve upon the vote by mail process, legislators are pushing bills that restrict access and punish Floridians. The coordinated attack on vote by mail in Florida resembles a broader, national trend of outside organizations being more concerned with impeding access to voting instead of expanding it.
“Florida’s Legislature must put Floridians first and reject these punitive, anti-voter bills.”
Background:
Florida’s proposed election bills mirror restrictive legislation in Georgia, Arizona, and other states that takes action against voters by reducing ballot drop box availability, limiting access to request and return absentee ballots, and implementing unnecessary identification requirements. SB 90 and HB 7041 create new and unnecessary identification hurdles to request a ballot and severely limit access to drop boxes, which have been proven to be safe, secure, and effective.