What’s in Florida’s Latest Election Integrity Bill
Bottom Line: Another year, after another smooth election cycle, the Florida legislature is taking aim at keeping it that way for next year’s presidential election cycle. Florida’s newly introduced “Elections” bill has 98 pages full of additional reforms to Florida’s election processes. Ordinarily when Florida’s legislature is proposing election reforms it’s big news. The reason the new proposal hasn’t likely yet is because it wasn’t the juicy piece of news many thought it would be – as it has nothing to do with Florida’s resign-to-run law which needs to change if Governor DeSantis is to run for president. But it does include several significant changes to the way elections would be conducted in Florida. Including these as currently written:
- New voters: Those voting for the first time in Florida who have yet to obtain a state-issued ID or have yet received a Social Security number, would have to vote in person
- 3rd Party Voter Registration Groups: Every 3rd party voter registration organization would be required to reregister with the state for every cycle they participate in and would have to turn in all voter registration applications within 10 days (down from 14)
- Signature Verification: Mandatory education on signature analysis for those involved in the signature verification process for vote by mail ballots
- Election Workers: Those working polls would gain new protections as it would become a 3rd degree felony to intimidate, threaten, coerce or harass an election worker
- Public notices: For all public notices, the current law mandating they be published in a local newspaper would be changed to enable online publishing on official websites
- Campaign Finance: Reforms the timeline for campaign finance reporting and raises the penalty for violations from a maximum of $1,000 to $2,500
Based on the current proposal existing voters wouldn’t likely notice a change to the way they go about voting as a result of this legislation, should it be enacted as written. Instead, there’s obviously an emphasis on newly registered voters and verifying the votes of those who vote remotely. As the bill was just recently introduced it could be amended to become more or less significant in its scope, I’ll keep you posted as it advances through the legislature.