Election supervisors say verified voters should be able to maintain vote-by-mail requests
The Brief
Elections supervisors in Florida are asking state lawmakers to revamp laws surrounding mail-in ballot requests.
The current law, passed in 2021, mandates that voters renew their mail-in ballot requests every two years.
Officials say that law has led to a big drop in vote-by-mail participation.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A significant decline in mail-in ballot requests is prompting Florida election supervisors to call for legislative changes.
Why you should care
The decrease comes after a 2021 law mandating that voters renew their mail-in ballot requests every two years, leading to confusion and reduced participation.
Speaking before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections in Tallahassee on Tuesday, election officials outlined the impact of the 2021 legislation on recent special congressional primaries. In the primary for Congressional District 1, requests for mail-in ballots fell nearly 90% compared to the previous year. Similarly, in Lake County's District 6 primary, there was a 75% decline in requests.
The 2021 law requires county election supervisors to purge mail-in ballot requests every two years. Voters must now provide personal identification details, such as a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, when requesting a mail-in ballot. Previously, voters could opt to receive mail-in ballots for up to four years by selecting a checkbox on their ballot envelope—a feature that has since been removed.
The removal of this option has led to widespread confusion among voters, who were unaware of the need to submit new requests.
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What they're saying
David Ramba, representing the Florida Supervisors of Elections, noted that officials have received numerous complaints from individuals surprised by the absence of their expected mail-in ballots.
"We've now redone the voting rolls twice," Ramba told lawmakers on Tuesday. "It's extremely expensive and staff intensive to go and recruit and let everybody know and educate them that their vote by mail has expired. So one of our priorities is to advocate bringing back a way to allow for the voter to choose that when they return their ballot."
The Florida Supervisors of Elections Association is urging lawmakers to reinstate the checkbox on mail-in ballot envelopes, incorporating the new identification requirements. They believe this change is essential to facilitate voter participation and reduce administrative burdens.
"Our theory is if (voters) had the luxury of checking a box in that general election return ballot that said, 'please keep my vote by mail request valid,' Then we could have continued to send them their vote by mail ballot for the special election," said Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays, a Republican.
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What's next
Election supervisors are hopeful that these proposed adjustments will be enacted during the upcoming legislative session to ensure a more accessible and efficient voting process for all Floridians. The recommendations underscore the ongoing debate in balancing election security with voter accessibility.
The Source
Information for this story was collected by FOX 13's Matthew McClellan.
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