Registering voters has become more difficult and much more expensive
This ANOTHER VIEWPOINT opinion by LWVFL Co-Presidents Cecile M. Scoon and Debbie Chandler was published Sept. 19 in the Sun-Sentinel.
People and organizations across the country and of all political persuasions work to extend the fundamental right to vote to all lawful citizens. Many of these organizations are making special plans to push for potential voters to get registered on National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 19. Unfortunately, even as these organizations try to expand the franchise, there are a number of states making it harder for citizens to vote and adding difficulty to registering voters, including Florida.
In a 2022 ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker found that Florida officials have spent the last 20 years intentionally making registering voters and voting more difficult by creating a variety of prohibitions erroneously. Since Walker’s order, the Florida Legislature has “gifted” Floridians with yet another nearly 100-page law with a slew of even more prohibitions, increased criminal penalties and fines related to voting. This new government “fix,” Senate Bill 7050, directly impacts any organization that wishes to register voters in Florida.
The League of Women Voters, a more than century-old nonpartisan organization whose volunteer members are dedicated to registering and educating voters, has made the difficult decision to change its way of doing business in Florida due to this newly enacted law. Dedicated volunteers will no longer collect completed paper voter registration forms and return them to their local supervisors of elections on a voter’s behalf. Gone are the days when hundreds of skilled volunteers with paper registration forms, pens and clipboards will register voters in neighborhoods and at community events. Senate Bill 7050 sets fines for even inadvertent errors so high that the league’s yearly budget could be affected.
Fines for turning in voter registration applications late have also risen drastically, while the time allotted to turn in the applications has been shortened from two weeks to 10 days.
Despite Florida’s continued efforts to make registering voters more difficult and perilous, the League of Women Voters of Florida believes every lawfully eligible citizen should have the right to vote. The league is committed to continuing to provide Florida’s citizens with expert voter registration assistance and nonpartisan education. To protect the organization from the harmful provisions of the new law, the league has purchased laptops, tablets, internet hotspots and internet subscriptions to assist citizens in using Florida’s online voter registration process. Instead of registering several voters at once, which was possible with paper forms, the league is now limited by the number of devices it can afford to have on hand. Citizens who are not able to use the internet form will be provided a blank voter registration application, an envelope, their supervisor of elections’ address, and a stamp. Sadly, due to the new provisions, league members cannot even place sealed envelopes with completed forms in the mail on behalf of registrants.
We’ve all heard the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This is especially true when applied to government actions. After the 2022 midterm election, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared, “The way Florida did it, I think, inspires confidence. I think that’s how elections should be run. We’re now being looked at as the state that did it right, and the state that these other states should emulate.” The governor and the secretary of state were proud to proclaim all states should follow Florida’s lead in election laws. Instead, we soon learned there would be additional, unnecessary restrictions and penalties imposed. Fixing something that “ain’t broke” is exactly what the Florida Legislature and the governor have done.
Regardless of the unnecessary roadblocks erected, the League of Women Voters will continue to empower voters and defend democracy. Although the system wasn’t broken and the government’s “fix” just made things worse, the league will continue to assist citizens in registering to vote in the same professional, experienced and qualified manner, just a lot less efficiently and with a significant increase in cost.
Cecile M. Scoon and Debbie Chandler serve as co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of Florida, a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government, working to increase understanding of major policy issues, and advocating for legislative changes and policies for the public good.
