This is part of the Brennan Center’s Toolkits for Activists Across the Nation.
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Political Context | What’s in Place and What’s Needed | Key Dates
Administering an election under pandemic conditions requires undertaking steps to keep voting accessible, safe, and secure. The guide below lays out the problems Covid-19 poses, what preparedness measures Florida has, and what changes are still needed. But first, we offer some political context for your advocacy.
Advocacy Focus: Local Reform
Local officials have a lot of responsibility over elections. They are a great place to focus advocacy efforts. Though state officials can make any of the changes in this toolkit, we highlight some examples of changes that local elections officials can also make with this symbol:🔸
Political Context
Below is a list of the relevant officials and information about the legislative session.
Governor: Ron DeSantis (R)
Secretary of State: Laurel Lee (R)
Legislature: House (R) Senate (R)
Legislative Session: The legislature last adjourned on March 19, 2020. Either the governor or the legislature can call a special legislative session.
Local Elections Officials: In Florida, county supervisors of election share responsibilities for administering elections. You can look up individual county supervisors of election here.
What Florida Has and What’s Needed
Three priorities. There are three key areas where we need to shore up our elections systems for success during a pandemic: registration, mail voting, and in-person voting.
Registration
Covid-19 may disrupt the traditional ways Americans register to vote, like get out the vote drives or registering at government agencies. In the crucial weeks before the registration deadline, postal service disruptions may lead many registration forms to arrive at election offices after the deadline.
Preparatory Measures Florida Already Has Taken:
- Online voter registration
Changes Still Needed:
- Prepare to extend online and mail voter registration deadlines based on conditions in the state
- Voter registration on Election Day
Voting by Mail
Because of Covid-19, long lines and crowds at the polls pose health risks not seen in previous elections. Allowing every citizen to vote by mail reduces the number of people at the polls on Election Day and decreases the exposure risk to Covid-19.
Preparatory Measures Florida Already Has Taken:
- All voters can vote by mail without an excuse
- Online tool for requesting an absentee ballot
- Provides post-election notice and cure opportunity for defects on absentee-ballot envelope, including signature mismatch or missing signatures
- No notary or witness requirement for return of mail ballot
- No ID requirement to vote by mail
Changes Still Needed:
- Accept late-arriving ballots postmarked by Election Day
- Provide pre-paid postage for voting by mail
- Send absentee-ballot applications to all voters who have not yet applied
In-Person Voting
Even with expanded mail voting opportunity, states cannot close polling places. To do so may disenfranchise voters without Internet and mail access, or those who do not wish to cast a ballot by mail. In-person voting must be done in accordance with health guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Preparatory Measures Florida Already Has Taken:
- In-person early voting
Changes Still Needed:
- Ensure sufficient polling places are open and resourced on Election Day🔸
- Open more in-person early voting locations🔸
- Take proper public health precautions to ensure safe polling places🔸
- Hold training sessions for polling-place workers well in advance of Election Day, so that election officials can better anticipate problems with staffing and logistics🔸
- Increase access to curbside voting at polling locations
Advocacy Focus: Protecting Polling Places
No matter how prepared Florida is as a matter of policy, elections officials and advocates must stay vigilant about ensuring safe, healthy in-person voting is an option for everyone all the way through Election Day. Here are some important things to know about who makes decisions about polling places in Florida and what rules govern the process:
- State law allows County Supervisors of Election to change or combine polling places no less than 30 days before an election.🔸
- In case of an emergency existing in any precinct at the time of the holding of any election, the supervisor of elections may establish, at any safe and convenient point outside such precinct, an additional polling place for the electors of that precinct, in which place the qualified electors may vote.🔸
- State law allows County Supervisors of Election to designate additional days and locations for early voting beyond the minimum mandated.🔸
Key Dates for Florida Elections
- July 20, 2020: Last day to register to vote for the primary election
- August 8, 2020: First day of state-mandated early voting period for the primary election
- August 15, 2020: Last day of state-mandated early voting period for the primary election
- August 18, 2020: Primary Election Day
- October 6, 2020 at 7PM: Last day to register to vote for the general election
- October 24, 2020: First day of state-mandated early voting period for the general election
- October 31, 2020: Last day of state-mandated early voting period for the general election
- November 3, 2020: General Election Day