Vote By Mail

In a party-line vote Monday, the House Public Integrity & Elections Committee signed off on a measure that would give supervisors of elections less leeway when comparing signatures on mail-in ballots, require voters to request mail-in ballots for each general election and make it harder to submit other people’s ballots at drop boxes.

State GOP leaders’ push to amend the elections process mimics efforts underway in other Republican-led states following President Trump’s re-election defeat in November. Trump and his followers have repeatedly alleged that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” a claim without merit.

State legislators are in session and one of the major Republican priorities would change how Floridians vote. It's called Senate Bill 90.

With backing from Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Senate committee on Wednesday approved a wide-ranging proposal to revamp vote-by-mail laws, including banning the use of drop boxes and taking aim at a practice known as “ballot harvesting.”

Contending the state needs to strengthen election integrity, Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing a series of changes in Florida’s voting process. He made the announcement three months after proclaiming that Florida had vanquished the “ghost” of the 2000 presidential recount and other well-documented election problems.

In a report filed with a Washgington, D.C. federal judge, government attorneys said 62 ballots were among the thousands of pieces of mail. All but one have been delivered, they said.

Wendy Sartory Link said she’s working to allay fears Palm Beach County voters may have about how vote-by-mail is received and counted by her office, as the historic election night draws near.

As early voting began in Leon County, long lines at polling sites followed. Many of those participating say they decided against voting by mail because of negative news they’d heard.

Hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots could be rejected because of small mistakes. Many groups are rushing to help voters "cure" their ballots so they can be counted.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is telling county elections supervisors that ballot collection boxes outside early voting sites have to be staffed, but the local officials’ attorney said Florida law doesn’t include any such requirement.

On a rainy Friday in Lauderhill, political parties, candidates and the press got a rare inside look at how signatures get matched on vote-by-mail ballot envelopes.

Half of those mail-in ballots are from Democrats, as just over 1 million of them have voted. As for the Republicans, they’re at 623,000.