Melissa Ross
Is Florida ready for online voting? According to an email from the state’s League of Women Voters, it should be.
The Action Alert from president Deirdre Macnab states that “online voter registration took another step towards becoming a reality, with bills in the Senate and House passing through committees.”
“Governor Rick Scott, however, has made clear his position on the issue, sending Secretary of State Ken Detzner to the committee hearings to speak in opposition of the bill. Detzner raised concerns that his office would not be prepared to handle the influx of new registrations. Detzner did not even want a set implementation date! Governor Scott’s actions hint that he may veto the bill if one reaches his desk.”
The message goes on to point out that 20 other states have implemented online voter registration, with four more in the process.
“Virginia was able to implement their online system in 6 months. Under the current legislation being debated, Florida would have until October 2017 to be implemented,” Macnab writes
Several bills deal with online voting: SB 228, SB 7064 and HB 7143.
More data points:
- In Arizona, the price of processing a registration went from 83 cents to 3 cents. This saves money every election cycle!
- Online voter registration is more secure than paper, because the electronic registration form is going directly to the Supervisor of Elections, unlike paper in many cases.
- Online voter registration has bipartisan support in the Legislature, as well unanimous support of all 67 Supervisors of Elections throughout the state. This is a no brainer.
The email ends with a call to action, asking supporters to contact Scott and urge him not to veto online voter registration, calling it “good for democracy; good for Florida.”
