Florida Republicans want to eliminate popular voting drop boxes following the 2020 presidential election where millions voted by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports the Tallahassee Democrat.
The drop box, an increasingly popular option for voters, was expanded during the pandemic — 44% of Florida voters voted by mail in 2020 — but a bill proposed by state Sen. Dennis Baxley to eliminate the practice, along with requiring residents to renew their mail-in ballot requests annually, is making its way through the state Legislature.
The state’s Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday approved the proposal in a 4-2 vote along party lines.
"We had an excellent, excellent conducted election and very high credibility, and now we're looking at each juncture and saying, 'What do we do to reassure the future?'" Baxley told the Orlando Sentinel when asked if there was any fraud involving drop boxes. "We've put the guardrails on the highway so that no one runs off. We had a great journey what can we do to improve the election security."
The decision comes amid a nationwide GOP effort to change voting laws — the Georgia Senate on Monday passed legislation to roll back no-excuse absentee voting. The bill would move drop boxes inside early voting sites and require Georgians to provide an ID to vote by mail.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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