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On Thursday, Florida Republicans passed an election overhaul bill that will place voting restrictions in the critical battleground state.
The bill is another way G.O.P state lawmakers seek to reduce voting access, the New York Times reported.
Florida is now the first major swing state won by Donald Trump to pass significant limitations on voting. It shows just how determined Republicans are to reform the electoral system even in states where they have been growing.
Even though Trump carried the state last year by more than three percentage points and other Republicans performed well, Republicans feel that elections need to be more secure. On the other side, Democrats and voting rights experts say the new measures would negatively affect minorities.
According to the outlet, the new bill would limit the use of voting drop boxes, apply more identification requirements for those who request absentee ballots, require voters to make a request for an absentee ballot per election—than receive them automatically, place limitations on who can collect and drop off ballots, and give power to partisan observers during the ballot-counting process.
A similar law was passed in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and other Republican-led states are also pursuing limiting ballot access. The party embraced the pressure to make election changes following Trump’s false and widespread voter fraud claims.
“There was no problem in Florida,” said Kara Gross, the legislative director and senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
“Everything worked as it should. The only reason they’re doing this is to make it harder to vote.”
