Elections supervisors say that verified voters should be able to maintain voting requests per month

Tallahassee, Florida. – A significant drop in mail voting requests encourages Florida Electoral supervisors call for legislative changes.

Why you should worry about it:

The decrease comes after a 2021 law Demanding that voters renew their requests for a ballot by mail every two years, resulting in confusion and a reduction in participation.

Speaking before the senatorial committee of ethics and elections in Tallahassee TuesdayElectoral officials highlighted the impact of 2021 legislation on recent special primaries in the congress. In the primary of the Congressional District 1, postal bulletin applications fell by almost 90% compared to the previous year. Similarly, in the District 6 primary of the County of Lake, there was a 75% drop in requests.

The law of 2021 obliges the county electoral supervisors to serve requests for a ballot by mail every two years. Voters must now provide personal identification details, such as a driving license number or the last four figures for their social security number, when requesting a postal ballot. Previously, voters could choose to receive postal ballots for up to four years by selecting a check box on their voting envelope – a feature that has since been deleted.

The deletion of this option has led to generalized confusion among voters, who were not aware of the need to submit new requests.

READ: Governor Desantis reveals $ 115.6 billion in budget proposed for the year 2025-26

What they say:

David Ramba, representing the supervisors of the elections in Florida, noted that the officials received many complaints of individuals surprised by the absence of their expected postal bulletins.

“We have now redone the voting lists twice,” Ramba told legislators on Tuesday. “It is extremely expensive and the staff are the effectiveness of the staff to recruit and let everyone know and educate them that their vote by mail has expired. So one of our priorities is to recommend bringing back a way to allow the voter to choose this when he returns their ballot. “

Florida supervisors of the elections association urged the legislators to restore the check box on the postal voting envelopes, incorporating the new identification requirements. They believe that this change is essential to facilitate the participation of voters and reduce administrative charges.

“Our theory is whether (voters) had the luxury of checking a box in this return ballot of the general elections which said:” Please keep my vote by valid mail “so we could have continued to send them their vote by Voting bulletin for the voting bulletin by mail for the special elections, “said Lake County Supervisor of the Alan Hays elections, a Republican.

Click here: >>> Follow Fox 13 on YouTube

What is the next step:

The elections supervisors hope that these proposed adjustments will be adopted at the next legislative session to ensure a more accessible and effective voting process for all the Floridians. The recommendations underline the current debate in the balance between elections safety and the accessibility of voters.

Stay connected with Fox 13 Tampa:

FloriPolitical