Florida Scores Huge Win for Free and Fair Elections Over Marc Elias and an Obama Judge

On Thursday, a panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals handed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over Hillary and DNC lawyer Marc Elias, when the court ruled that the election laws passed in Florida are perfectly legal and can be used in the 2024 election. By a 2-1 decision, with an Obama judge dissenting, the panel upheld nearly all of Florida’s overhaul of voting rules in May 2021. In May 2021, the Florida legislature passed a major overhaul of state election law. The laws were designed to make elections fairer and more transparent. (Not to be confused with a parent who is a trans)

These are bullet points that describe what the Florida law does.

• Under SB-90, voters can still request to vote-by-mail instead of voting in person. However, some changes are being made to the request process.
• Voters can submit a vote-by-mail application. It outlawed the mass mailing of ballots. All requests for ballots have to be accompanied by a Florida driver’s license number, ID number, or the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number.
• Drop boxes outside the permanent elections office must be located to give all voters an equal opportunity to use them. Drop boxes may only be used for early voting. They must be monitored by staff from the election supervisor’s office. Dropbox locations must be announced 30 days before an election and cannot be changed after that date. All boxes must be emptied by the end of voting hours each day.
• Convicted felons must check a box declaring their voting rights have been restored on the voter registration form.
• The state must create and maintain a secure website for online voter registration. In addition, there are risk management requirements that accompany this provision.
• All electronic devices and networks used for voting must be screened for vulnerabilities and protected from cyberattacks.
• Voter turnout data must be made available to the public in real time.
• Florida DMV must cooperate with the Florida Secretary of State’s office in tracking voter address changes.
• Third-party voter registration organizations must register with the state whether or not they distribute or collect voter registration applications.
• Applications collected by third-party organizations must be delivered to the appropriate county within 14 days. The groups must inform voters that they are a third-party organization and can’t guarantee that the applications will be delivered on time. If an application is not delivered on time, the organization must inform the voter how to register online, and the organization gets fined $50 per late application.
• The minimum distance for electioneering is increased from 100 feet to 150 feet.
• Anyone who wants to assist a voter in the polling place has to submit a “Declaration to Provide Assistance” in advance and must swear they are not engaged in electioneering and that they are neither the employer of the voter nor an agent of that employer.
• Contrary to many statements, you can provide water, etc., to voters in line; you just can’t talk to them about voting.
• Poll watchers will have a badge issued by the elections supervisor.
• All ballots, forms, and materials from the election must be retained for 22 months.
• All “duplicate” ballots created to replace damaged vote-by-mail ballots must be made in an open room with witnesses. Overvotes or undervotes that can’t be “corrected,” that is, cases where the voter seems to have intended to undervote or overvote, can’t be studied for “voter’s intent.” The accuracy of “duplicate” ballots can be challenged by observers resulting in the ballot being voted on by the canvassing board.
• Candidates must be registered members of the party whose nomination they seek for a year before the election.
• Candidates registering as independents must not have been party members for the past year.
• Voter certification on envelopes must be open to public inspection.
• Parties, candidates, and political action committees are entitled to see all voter certificates and envelopes before they are counted.
• Comparing voter signatures must be open to access and review.
• It is illegal for election boards to accept private donations of money, goods, or services to support an election.
• Written notice of any settlements, consent decrees, or orders that would modify state election law must be submitted to state authorities ten days before it is scheduled to go into effect.
• Officials have a positive duty to defend the state election law.