TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida Senate today voted to pass Senate Bill 90, a restrictive voting bill. If passed into law, SB 90 would impose a series of restrictions on Floridians’ ability to vote by mail. It would restrict secure vote-by-mail drop boxes, require voters to submit vote-by-mail requests each election cycle, and demand unnecessary and sensitive personal information when voters request a mail ballot. Similar to the new Georgia law, SB 90 also criminalizes giving food and water to people waiting in line to vote.
Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel of the ACLU of Florida, responded with the following statement:
“Instead of upholding the fundamental right to vote, certain Florida senators have decided to become accomplices to the nationwide voter suppression scheme underway by passing this undemocratic bill. They are suppressing the right to vote by obstructing access to vote-by-mail.
“In 2020, about 4.8 million voters in Florida cast their ballots by mail. More than 1.5 million Floridians used a secure dropbox to safely and conveniently return their ballot. Nothing about Florida’s elections has shown a need for this law. In fact, legislators should be encouraged that Floridians turned out in record numbers to participate in their democracy. It should prompt our legislators to seek ways to improve voter access by streamlining voter signature-matching procedures and ensuring uniformity across all counties, or encouraging more equitable polling places. Supervisors of elections have made it clear that this bill will create unnecessary hurdles to administering elections in Florida. Yet, certain senators are choosing to pass initiatives, like SB 90, that would make it harder for Floridians to vote.
“We call on Floridians to tell their state representatives to stop this bill. We call on corporations to demand legislators stand up for voting rights. We call on all legislators to break down – not erect – barriers to Floridians’ fundamental right to vote. Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and the fundamental right upon which all our civil liberties rest. It must not be compromised.”
