ORLANDO, Fla. – In Florida, anyone can request a vote-by-mail ballot for an election, without needing a reason.
That will change if a Republican state senator gets his way.
State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican whose district includes Sumter, Citrus, Hernando and part of Pasco counties, introduced SB 1752 late Friday.
Among the bill’s election provisions is a section that would restrict eligibility for voting by mail, requiring the voter to explain why they will not be able to vote on Election Day or the early voting period.
[RELATED: How to contact your Florida lawmakers | 10 issues we’re watching in the 2024 Florida Legislative Session]
Voters would only be able to vote by mail if they are:
- Going to be away from their county of residence
- Unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical disability
- Because you are the primary caregiver for someone who is ill or physically disabled
- A resident or patient of a VA medical facility
- Is in jail but is still qualified to vote
Anyone found lying about their request would be convicted of a third-degree felony, fined up to $5,000 and could be imprisoned for up to 5 years.
Voters would also have to put in a new request to vote for every election. If the bill were to become law, all vote-by-mail ballot requests currently on record would be canceled.
The bill would be in effect in time for the Aug. 20, 2024 statewide primary election. That also means elections supervisors would have to be ready to take new vote-by-mail ballot requests in early July.
“It would be a complete disaster,” said Lake County Elections Supervisor Alan Hays, who is a Republican. “Already the bill has continued to undermine the confidence of the voters in our system. This is just inexcusable behavior on (Ingoglia’s) part.”
[RELATED: Like voting by mail? Why you should update your status now]
Hays, and Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles, both said the state’s election supervisors were blindsided by this bill, and it was not asked for.
In the wake of the 2000 election, Florida lawmakers and election officials made a series of reforms to the state’s election laws to try to avoid a repeat of that debacle. Hays and Cowles said one of the changes was to allow for early voting and to vote-by-mail to all voters.
In 2022, around 7.8 million voters took part in the November general election, and more than 2.7 million of those voted by mail, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections.
Cowles said Central Florida voters in particular find vote-by-mail beneficial.
“People, particularly here in Central Florida, where people are working in the tourism industry, they work in retail, we don’t work a traditional Monday through Friday, 8-to-5, and our employers give people time off to go vote,” Cowles said. “So this is really a step backward.”
Ingoglia’s office supplied a statement to News 6, pointing to a December poll of 1,085 likely voters by the conservative Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports.
The survey claims that 30% of the voters polled voted by mail in the 2020 election, and of those 21% took part in at least one concept that could be considered election fraud, such as allowing a family member or friend to fill out a ballot on the voter’s behalf, or casting a mail-in ballot in a state where they were no longer a permanent resident.
“It’s time Florida stops the practice of no-excuse vote by mail, which have proven to be the least secure. My proposal is to go back to voting in person with expanded early voting,” Ingoglia’s statement said.
Multiple analyses have found general voter fraud to be rare in the 2020 election, and not enough to impact the presidential election’s results. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, tracks voter fraud instances. While the group cautions that the list is not complete, it has found a total of 1,490 proven instances of voter fraud since 1982.
“The system in Florida has the checks and balances of when you were sent (a ballot), when your ballot does return, whether it’s accepted, or it’s in a category where it has to be fixed or is rejected because you didn’t fix it. So we’ve got all the checks and balances in play,” Cowles said.
Hays also pointed out that signature validation on ballot envelopes is done by workers in the county elections offices who are trained through a state course, and ballots that are not approved are never even opened.
“So the validation of those signatures is done. It’s done by conscientious people who are men and women of integrity. And all of this so-called fraud is a bunch of baloney,” Hays said.
The Republican Party, which took a cue from former President Trump and shied away from vote-by-mail in 2020, is promoting it for 2024 with the “Bank Your Vote” campaign.
On Tuesday, Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, told reporters she did not support Ingoglia’s bill.
Hays, who used to serve in the Florida Legislature, also thinks the bill is a longshot, but “stranger things have happened.” He said he will go to Tallahassee and testify against the bill in committee if need be.
“I would encourage the voters who feel that this bill is a bad idea, don’t write to the sponsor of the bill, write to their individual legislators,” Hays said. “Let the individual legislators know that you the voter did not appreciate them tinkering with our election laws without the advice and consent of the elections professionals who know what we’re doing.”
News 6 also received statements from other elections supervisors in Central Florida
Mary Jane Arrington, the Osceola County elections supervisor said: “This isn’t your grandfather’s community. Our voters are busy, they work outside the county, they have different lives. It’s inconvenient. People need options.”
Chris Anderson, the Seminole County elections supervisor, said he was going to work more to build trust in the elections system: “Seminole County Elections Commission is going to address the concern of voters to produce 100% accuracy in elections. When we do that, any other suggested changes in SB 1752 will become a moot point.”
Information from News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: