Thread by @FlaDems

Florida Republicans are back to their favorite hobby, voter suppression.

Their latest tactic? Making it harder to vote by mail with Senate Bill 90.

It's bad for voters and bad for Florida. But what is actually in this bill and why is it so problematic? 🧵 1/n

First, the bill bans ballot drop boxes, a tool that millions of Florida voters used in the last election.

Former Republican lawmaker & current Supervisor of Elections in Lake County called this provision of the bill “a travesty” for voting access. 2/n

cnn.com/2021/03/10/pol…

In fact according to Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley, he has heard of NO supervisors of elections from any of Florida’s 67 counties who are in support of this bill. 🤔 3/n

orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne…

Next this bill would purge current vote-by-mail registrations of millions of Florida voters.

Now a vote-by-mail registration is valid for 2 election cycles or up to 4 years. This would make it valid for just 1 election cycle, placing an undue burden on millions of Floridians.4/n

This provision is notable bc in 2020 the majority of people who voted by mail in Florida were Dems– in the past Reps have been the majority of vbm voters.

Seems pretty clear that the Reps are trying to level the playing field in time for @GovRonDeSantis re-election campaign. 5/n

Not to mention, as the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections noted, this provision would disproportionately impact the elderly, voters with disabilities, and our overseas military, all of whom have potential limited access to re-enroll. 6/n

miaminewtimes.com/news/florida-s…

This bill would also prohibit anyone except immediate family members from dropping off someone else’s ballot and it increases requirements for requesting ballots.

Again, making it harder for elderly and disabled people to vote. 7/n

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

And, all of these proposed elections changes are coming after @GovRonDeSantis bragged about how successful Florida’s election systems were in November…. 8/n

apnews.com/article/donald…

It’s blatantly clear that this is not about necessary voting reforms. It is about voter suppression.

UF prof. Michael McDonald said it's a part of what's shaping up to be the “greatest rollback of voting rights in this country since the Jim Crow era” 9/n
orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne…

And for Republicans:

Voter suppression = easier to win.

As former ACLU director said, "Floridians deserve a fair election — one in which rules are not manipulated by one candidate who gets to put his finger on the scale to benefit his own election.”10/n

tampabay.com/opinion/2021/0…

.@GovRonDeSantis and the @FloridaGOP are trying to put their fingers on the scale, suppress the vote, and make sure our Florida elections are less accessible and more chaotic.

It is despicable and their efforts are bad for democracy. 11/n

So if this made you mad, call your state Senator and let them know that you are opposed to voter suppression and opposed to SB 90

We can’t let them get away with this. 12/12

flsenate.gov/Senators