Gov. DeSantis allows voting changes after hurricane, but voting and civil rights groups want more

Image via AP.

A day after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order allowing Supervisors of Elections in 13 counties affected by Hurricane Helene to make changes to voting procedures, representatives of civil rights and voting rights groups said Friday that he needs to go further, as the deadline to register for the Nov. 5 General Election falls on Monday.

Earlier this week, the Florida Supervisors of Elections (FSE) sent a letter to the Governor warning that “a significant number of early voting sites and polling locations have been damaged or otherwise rendered unusable, a significant number of voters have been displaced, and a significant number of poll workers may be unavailable for the foreseeable future.”

DeSantis responded with an order similar to one he signed almost exactly two years ago after Hurricane Ian levelled parts of Southwest Florida.

His new order suspends the statute prohibiting Election Supervisors from moving a voting location or designated ballot “intake station” (also known as a drop box) to another site less than 30 days before the election; waives the requirement that poll workers can only be hired if they are registered voters in the same county in which they will work the polls; and allows voters’ requests to send mail ballots somewhere other than the home address they had on file.

The 13 counties listed as being affected by Helene are: Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Taylor.

However, the civil and voting rights groups, which include the NAACP Florida State Conference, the ACLU of Florida, All Voting is Local, and Common Cause Florida, have sent a letter to DeSantis, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, and Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews with additional requests, starting with adding counties to receive the waivers.

Those new counties are Columbia, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Suwannee, and Wakulla.

“While Executive Order 24-212 includes counties flagged by Supervisors of Elections who have expressed needs, this broader list of counties is more likely to reflect the needs of all impacted voters,” they write.

The other requests they have are these:

Voter registration

— Extend the voter registration deadline from Oct. 7 to Oct. 15.

— Apply the extension statewide “as many voters are likely displaced and now located in a different county from that in which they are currently registered.”

Vote-by-mail

— Direct Supervisors of Elections in all affected counties to accept telephonic and written (including email) requests for a VBM ballot to be mailed to an address other than the voter’s address on file, with requiring the voter to complete the Statewide Vote-by-Mail Request Form.

— Direct Supervisors to send VBM ballots via forwardable mail such that displaced voters who have provided a forwarding address to USPS do not need to request a new ballot.

— Allow Supervisors in affected counties to expand their use of drop boxes, both in quantity and location as disaster recovery efforts progress.

— Extend the deadline for voters to request a VBM ballot be mailed to them from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26.

Early voting

— Advise Supervisors to accept VBM ballots that are returned in taped or damaged envelopes.

— Allow Supervisors in affected counties to conduct early voting every day beginning Oct. 21 through Election Day, Nov. 5, and provide financial support if necessary.

— Extend mandatory early voting hours in affected counties from 8 hours to 12 hours per day throughout the early voting period and provide financial support if necessary.

— Require Supervisors in affected counties to prominently highlight and post any changes to early voting sites on their websites and on social media and assign staff or post clear signage at the closed sites.

Election Day polling locations

— Allow Supervisors in affected counties to extend voting or early voting sites through 7 p.m. on Election Day and allow any voter in the county to cast their ballot at any of these sites regardless of the precinct they are assigned to, or allow Supervisors to set up super-voting sites where all residents can vote countywide on Election Day.

— Require Supervisors in affected counties to prominently highlight and post any changes to Election Day polling locations on their websites and on social media and assign staff or post clear signage at the closed locations, to ensure voters are informed about where to cast their ballot in addition to notice requirements set forth in 101.71(2), Florida Statutes.

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Mitch Petter reporting. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.