JACKSONVILLE, Fla – There’s a new push to change how mail-in voting works in Florida that would increase the number of envelopes voters would get and need to mail back.
This proposed change would add extra steps to mail-in voting that supporters say will make the process more secure.
Under current law, voters enclose completed mail-in ballots inside “secrecy” envelopes or sleeves before putting them inside another envelope to be mailed to county supervisors of elections or submitted at drop boxes manned by supervisors’ staff.
Under the new proposals, voters would get at least four envelopes when they request a mail-in ballot. Voters would find their ballot, return envelope, certification envelope, and a secrecy sleeve.
Once their ballot is filled out, voters would need to put their ballot in the secrecy sleeve and slide the secrecy sleeve into the certification envelope.
Under this proposal, voters would also have to mark the certification envelope with the last four digits of their driver’s license, Social Security number, or state ID. Once everything is completed, voters can place everything inside the return envelope and mail it off.
Currently, “secrecy” envelopes accompanying mail-in ballots do not have to be returned to supervisors for the votes to be deemed valid.
Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays, a Republican who is a former state senator, called requiring voters to use a “certification” envelope and provide the identification number on file with the supervisor’s office “a recipe for disaster.”
“Getting voters to follow instructions is not easy,” Hays told the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Feb. 1. “If you think they’re going to follow the instructions with all of these envelopes, you’ve got another thought coming.”
A Senate panel approved the measure, which faces one more committee before the full Senate could vote on it. A House committee signed off on a similar bill (HB 7057) last week.
The House and Senate are also moving forward with measures that would create a statewide elections security force and require elections supervisors to scrub the voting rolls more often.
Several voting rights groups are still challenging another election overhaul passed last year. They said it was intended to make it more difficult for Black and Hispanic voters to cast ballots by mail. The trial in that case is scheduled to wrap up this week.