Topline
Florida enacted new voting restrictions Thursday as Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation that limits mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes, one of a growing number of Republican-led states that have imposed such laws as the GOP makes a nationwide push in the wake of the November election to further restrict voting in the name of election security—here’s the full list:
Key Facts
Florida’s legislation adds more identification requirements to request a mail-in ballot and restricts the use of ballot drop boxes by requiring them to be staffed by an election worker, limiting the hours when ballots can be dropped off, among other measures.
Kansas imposed new laws last week—after lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto—that prohibit the executive and judicial branches of government from changing election laws instead of the state legislature and put more limits on mail-in voting, including barring third parties from submitting more than 10 mail-in ballots.
Georgia enacted sweeping and hugely controversial voting restrictions in March that include identification requirements for mail-in ballots, limiting ballot drop boxes and ousting the Secretary of State from the state’s election board in favor of a legislature-appointed chair.
Iowa was the first state to implement major new voting rules in March, signing into law such restrictions as shortening periods for requesting and returning absentee ballots; limiting ballot drop boxes; shortening the length of time polling places are open on Election Day and prohibiting third parties from helping people fill out and return their absentee ballots.
Arkansas enacted two laws in April, which require absentee ballots to be returned by the Friday before Election Day—rather than on Election Day as in the past—and expand the powers partisan election commissions have in directing election workers.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed two laws in April that prohibit registering to vote on Election Day—a practice more than 60,000 voters in the state have done between 2006 and 2018 alone—and end a previous rule that allowed students to use their student ID to vote, now requiring a second form of identification.
Wyoming imposed a new voter ID law requiring voters to show identification when voting in person.
What To Watch For
Florida is expected to be the next state to impose new voting restrictions, as the state legislature passed new measures last week limiting mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he will sign into law. Other major battleground states are also actively moving forward with new restrictions, including Texas, Arizona and Michigan.
Big Number
361. That’s how many restrictive voting bills had been introduced in 47 states as of March 24, according to a Brennan Center for Justice analysis.
Chief Critics
The GOP-led voting bills have attracted widespread opposition from Democrats and other critics who argue the restrictions will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color and other disadvantaged groups, and Georgia, Iowa and Montana’s laws are already the target of multiple lawsuits. Hundreds of CEOs from major companies including Amazon, Google, Netflix, Starbucks and G.M. have opposed new voting restrictions more broadly, and several corporations have moved business out of Georgia in response to their new law. “We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot,” companies and executives wrote in a full-page ad taken out in the New York Times and Washington Post in April.
Key Background
The Republican-led push for stricter voting rules came after former President Donald Trump and his allies alleged widespread fraud in the November election, despite there being no credible evidence to back that up. The fraud claims have spurred a wave of concern from Republicans about strengthening election security—even when they acknowledge their elections ran smoothly—and the GOP has defended the laws in the face of the controversy over them and corporate backlash.
Contra
Some states have recently been expanding, rather than restricting, voting access: Kentucky enacted three days of early voting and other measures in a sweeping voting rights bill, New Jersey established in-person early voting and Virginia implemented the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, the first state version of the federal Voting Rights Act.
Further Reading
Over 2 In 3 Americans Voted Using Methods GOP Trying To Restrict, Census Data Shows (Forbes)
Sweeping Georgia Voting Restrictions Signed Into Law (Forbes)
Civil Rights Group Sues To Block New Iowa Voting Restrictions (Forbes)
Montana Democrats Sue State After Voting Restrictions Signed Into Law (Forbes)
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Florida Becomes Latest GOP State To Enact Voting Restrictions — Here’s The Full List - Forbes
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