CNN: Florida House passes controversial voting bill that would add new restrictions

04.28.2021 / By Dianne Gallagher, Wesley Bruer, Jade Gordon and Kelly Mena
CNN: Florida House passes controversial voting bill that would add new restrictions

"SB 90 will limit voters' options when they make a choice in the three methods to cast a ballot. It will create hurdles to every step of voting by mail. It will reduce voters' access to ballot drop boxes. It will add to elections officials' workload and add to the need for voter education. It will make it more difficult for the nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer program to assist voters in understanding their rights in the voting process," Sylvia Albert of Common Cause said in a statement released following the House vote. "Nothing about this bill is 'for the people.' It will only make it harder for 'the people' to have our voices heard and our ballots counted," she added.

(CNN) After several hours of contentious debate, the Republican-controlled Florida House passed its version of a controversial bill that would add new restrictions to the voting process.

The bill, SB 90, passed on a party-line vote of 77-40 on Wednesday. The bill now goes back to the Senate with a slew of changes, after the House adopted a “strike-all amendment” that brought SB 90 closer to a similar bill that had been moving through the House.
The legislation, as amended by the Florida House, would create a long list of restrictions, including:
  • Adding new identification and signature requirements for voting by mail.
  • Expanding the “no solicitation zone” where items that could be perceived as influencing cannot be given to voters to 150 feet around a polling place or drop box site.
  • Limiting who can return a completed mail-in ballot.
  • Prohibiting private donations to be used for elections.
  • Preventing election officials from entering into consent agreements.
  • Requiring voters to submit requests for mail-in ballots annually.
  • Creating several restrictions for drop box use.
There isn’t much time for the two chambers to negotiate, since Florida’s legislative session ends Friday. If the bill is approved by the Senate, it will then head to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk for his signature. …
Voting rights advocates also slammed the bill’s passage as making it harder for Floridians to vote.
“SB 90 will limit voters’ options when they make a choice in the three methods to cast a ballot. It will create hurdles to every step of voting by mail. It will reduce voters’ access to ballot drop boxes. It will add to elections officials’ workload and add to the need for voter education. It will make it more difficult for the nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer program to assist voters in understanding their rights in the voting process,” Sylvia Albert of Common Cause said in a statement released following the House vote.
“Nothing about this bill is ‘for the people.’ It will only make it harder for ‘the people’ to have our voices heard and our ballots counted,” she added.

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