Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said Thursday that the state would ease election rules for three counties that were the hardest hit by Hurricane Ian, allowing them to create “super polling” centers and to extend early voting by a couple of days.
He signed an emergency order on Wednesday that will also allow voters in those counties in southwest Florida — Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota — to request by phone that their mail-in ballots be sent to a different address from the one kept on file.
The move by Mr. DeSantis came two weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm along the Gulf Coast, leading to more than 100 deaths in Florida and to widespread destruction, including to early voting sites and Election Day precincts.
Election officials expected that many of those sites would not be available, placing another burden on workers who had already been dealing with threats and misinformation.
The order cited a dire situation in Lee County, where it said the county’s head of elections reported that only a few Election Day polling locations were viable after the storm.
The Aftermath of Hurricane Ian
- The Victims: The storm, Florida’s deadliest since 1935, has been linked to the deaths of at least 119 people in the state. Many were at least 60, and dozens died by drowning.
- A Housing Crisis: As the extent of the damage from Ian comes into focus, many in Florida are uncertain of their next chapter, fearing they may become homeless.
- Uncertain Future: Older people displaced by Hurricane Ian are confronting a wrenching situation: At their age, remaking the lives they loved so much in Florida may not be possible.
- Lack of Insurance: In the Florida counties hit hardest by Ian, less than 20 percent of homes had flood insurance, new data show. Experts say that will make rebuilding harder.
In addition to property damage, election officials in the state have said that their work is being hampered by the displacement of voters, a shortage of poll workers and disruptions to telecommunications and other utility services.
Under the order, Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota Counties will be allowed to relocate and consolidate polling locations, creating what are known as “super polling” centers to serve displaced voters from precincts devastated by the storm.
The order also authorizes the counties to offer early voting from Oct. 24 through Election Day, on Nov. 8. Previously, the cut off was Nov. 6.
In an effort to recruit more trained poll workers in the three counties, the order will let those with experience from the 2020 election or who have worked in elections since then be eligible to do so again this November. State employees were also being encouraged by the governor’s office to serve as poll workers.
For the three counties, Mr. DeSantis suspended a requirement that requests be made in writing for those who want mail-in ballots to be sent to a different address from the one on file for them. They can now make those requests by phone, but they will still be required to provide a driver’s license number, an ID card number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
He also lifted a restriction on the forwarding of mail-in ballots in the three counties.
A similar order was signed after Hurricane Michael in 2018, when the governor at the time, Rick Scott, who is now a U.S. senator, relaxed voting rules in eight counties along the Panhandle.
Mark S. Earley, the president of the statewide association of election supervisors, said in a statement on Thursday that while the governor’s order took somewhat longer to be issued than the one in 2018, it addressed the group’s concerns.
“With this order, we have the flexibility needed to provide all voters with an accessible opportunity to vote and to have their voices heard through the ballot box, while maintaining the procedural integrity needed for those voters to have faith that the election is being conducted in a fair, impartial and secure manner,” said Mr. Earley, a top election official in Leon County, which was outside the hurricane’s direct path.
The action by Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, to loosen these election rules for a few affected counties contrasted with his overall push for more rigid voting policies in Florida.
Last year, Mr. DeSantis signed voting restrictions into law that limited the use of drop boxes where voters can deposit absentee ballots, and added more identification requirements for anyone requesting an absentee ballot. The law also requires voters to request absentee ballots for each two-year election cycle, rather than every four years.
Democrats and civil liberties groups have criticized the 2021 restrictions, arguing that they make it more difficult for voters, particular those of color, to cast ballots.
Mr. DeSantis, who is seeking re-election this year, also spearheaded the creation of a new state office of election crimes and security. In August, he announced that 17 people had been charged with casting illegal ballots in the 2020 election, in which 11.1 million Floridians voted.
That initiative has also drawn some backlash, with critics saying that the vast majority of those charged were Black and that election officials had previously told them that they were eligible to vote.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
