ORLANDO, Fla. — One week after postponing a hearing on his elections bill, State Sen. Dennis Baxley of Ocala introduced changes to his bill, bringing it more into line with a House elections bill.
“Without a doubt, safeguarding and maintaining the integrity of our elections is important all of us,” said Baxley (R-Marion County). “Florida leads the nation in election reforms because the Florida legislature has taken a proactive approach.”
Watch: Is your stimulus payment correct or are you owed a plus-up payment? Here is how to check
The changes outlined by Baxley to his bill (SB 90) would keep in place drop boxes for vote-by-mail ballots, while requiring that they be monitored when in use; a change that makes the Senate bill much more like the House bill.
“When we have unsecured locations where no one is present, there is that potential that something could go wrong,” said Baxley.
Despite the change to the bill, controversy remains, as senators from both parties question a provision which would require voters to have an ink-and-paper copy of their signature on file instead of an electronic signature, which is common when a Florida resident applies for a driver’s license at a DMV office.
Read: Feds: No charges for Capitol Police officer who shot, killed Ashli Babbitt during Jan. 6 riot
“So you are OK wiping out a million voters potentially off the rolls because the only fault is they followed the current law, which is an electronic signature and not a paper signature?” asked Sen. Jeff Brandes (R–Pinellas County).
Brandes pointed to the thousands of seniors in his district who he says would now need to submit a new signature in order to vote by mail; a signature that Baxley said could be submitted, ironically, via mail.
Read: CDC advisory committee wants more data before making recommendation on J&J vaccine
“They can mail in their signature, and that’s more secure than their signature at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles?” asked Brandes.
The bill will need to still be heard at a later date because senators ran out of time debating it in the Rules Committee.
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/GRZGPKEIUVHVFAVEGSOJSRA6JQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/AZGFQWU4WVFM3GPAAPB5VEK7LM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/J3UVPWDJ2RDQJPPCPONAZSNNZU.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/ZRBUBVWFNJFXJP6ZQG2ANEROVE.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/N6OBX6CWQZAAPOFSXUS4USRK6E.jpeg)