Miami Herald: Florida Legislature gets closer to putting a disastrous 2018 recount in the past

With the dust settled on another tumultuous recount, Florida lawmakers are closer to changing election laws to hopefully avoid the problems that plagued the 2018 midterms and reduce the number of rejected ballots in a state where literally every vote counts.

Legislation that would give election supervisors more time to count mail ballots and voters more time to fix problematic signatures began moving again Tuesday in the Florida Senate, passing out of committee after more than a month of inertia. With Florida’s legislative session nearing a close, election officials who helped craft the bill are hopeful that it’s on its way to becoming law.

But anyone hoping for a broader philosophical discussion on the future of voting in Florida — or more time to conduct recounts — is bound to be disappointed this year. Outside of actions influenced by lawsuits, any changes to Florida’s elections are likely to be limited primarily to those tailored to prevent the 2018 recount drama from reoccurring in the 2020 presidential election. …

“They’re not looking to the future and what’s moving around elections and the rest of the states,” said Liza McClenaghan, state chairwoman of Common Cause Florida. “They’re only interested in trying to fix the things from 2018.”

That said, McClenaghan is generally supportive of the legislation pushed by Ingoglia and Baxley given the potential significance of every “glitch” in Florida’s election laws.