DeSantis' Florida: The "Free State"
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently dubbed Florida, “The Free State of Florida,” This followed two years of his Republican-controlled legislature enacting stricter and stricter laws covering a variety of critical issues.
One from last year, regarding voting regulations, put forth a variety of impediments for individuals, especially for minority voters. Two were extremely appalling:
Drop boxes: Requiring that a secure drop box at a location other than the office of the county supervisor be open only during early voting hours, under the in-person monitoring of an employee of the supervisor's office.
Registration delivery: Requiring third-party voter registration organizations (3PVROs) to deliver applications to the Division of Elections or the Supervisor of Elections in the counties in which the applicants reside within 14 days of completing the applications (previously, 3PVROs could return completed applications to any Supervisor of Elections)
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a powerful 288-page decision last month, ruled the law to be unconstitutional and discriminatory – that most of the provisions of the law were put into place because the legislature knew they would disproportionately affect minority voters.
This may be a pyrrhic victory: Judge Walker's ruling is likely to be appealed to the conservative-leaning 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a majority of judges were appointed by Republican presidents. This is potentially alarming, as a similar voters rights case in Wisconsin demonstrated.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported "The state supreme court, in a 4-3 ruling in February, let a Waukesha County judge’s decision go into effect that says voters cannot give their absentee ballots to someone else to mail or hand over to election clerks for them. That creates barriers — likely insurmountable ones in some cases — for voters who are paralyzed or have other disabilities."
The paper, along with a local TV station, interviewed persons who are quadriplegic, who stated that they personally cannot place mail in the mail box or go to the voting location. The restrictive provision can also impact the elderly and others with physical limitations.
(A personal side note: my elderly mother passed away shortly before the 2020 election. She had an absentee mail-in ballot, but she was physically unable to get out of the house, walk down the driveway and place the ballot in the mail box. If these restrictions were in place, she would not have been able to vote!)
Apparently, this is not a concern for the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Bob Spindell, a Republican appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, says he believes people with disabilities will find a route to voting this spring and fall: "I understand there's some people that have extremely difficult times. But I tell you, to my knowledge, these people (my emphasis) have a lot of gumption. If they want to do something, no matter what it is, they seem to be able to do it. I'm sure if they wanted to cast their ballot, that they would figure out the proper way, or a good way, of doing it.”
Why should this matter to Floridians?
In an interview, DeSantis described Walker's ruling as "the judicial equivalent of pounding the table," and suggested that an appeal was in the works: "I think that that's going to be reversed on appeal. The only question is how quickly it gets reversed on appeal, but it's not going to be able to withstand appellate scrutiny.”
Michael Morley, an election law expert at Florida State University’s College of Law, referenced the 11th District US Court of Appeals in an interview earlier this year: “Particularly in recent years, the Eleventh Circuit has shown a willingness to be more deferential to the Legislature, to its policy decisions, to its security-type concerns.”
Should this appeal court follow the example set by Wisconsin, the restrictions put in place by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature could be in place for the next election.
Leading up to the primary, and to the general election, it is crucial that all persons become familiar with the restrictions put in place. Learn the regulations behind mail-in voting, drop box times and locations, etc. Then be available to assist the elderly and physically challenged persons in the voting process.
We must not allow these potentially egregious restrictions to prevent our Democratic candidates from being elected.
Submitted by: Bob Villa, Democratic Club of St. Lucie County Member