MIAMI.- A new project ley presented by senator republican Blaise Ingoglia seeks to limit access to voting by mail in Floridaafter imposing new eligibility requirements and prohibiting the use of certain voting systems.
The legislative initiative SB 1752 is based on SB 90, which already restricted the use of ballot drop boxes and increased scrutiny over voter signatures in 2021.
The new bill would also require a manual recount in some precincts before certifying certain elections.
What does the law say?
According to the project, Florida voters They could only request a ballot by mail if they meet certain conditionssuch as being absent from the county, having an illness or disability, being a resident or patient of a US Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility, or being confined in jail but still eligible to vote.
Additionally, SB 1752 would prohibit Florida from using any voting system that incorporates foreign-owned or controlled hardware or softwareor by someone who is not a US citizen.
The bill would also require the State Department to post information on its website within a certain time frame, such as the number of mail-in ballots requested, submitted and returned, and the number of ballots rejected and cured.
Likewise, it would require that a county Scrutiny Board carry out a manual count when the margin of victory is less than 0.25% before certifying certain elections, such as presidential, gubernatorial, and US senatorial elections.
Absentee ballot
Voting by mail was used by 44% or 4.6 million Floridians in the 2020 general election, and by more than 1.1 million voters in the 2022 election.
Some leaders Republicans argue that measures like those proposed by Senator Ingoglia are necessary to prevent voter fraud and protect voter confidence.
However, some Democrats and civil organizations denounce the law as a form of voter suppressionespecially minorities, seniors, and people with disabilities, who are more likely to use mail-in voting.
