Florida elections officials asked DeSantis for coronavirus help. They're still waiting.
Source: Miami Herald
Alarmed by the coronavirus pandemic, Florida’s election supervisors asked Gov. Ron DeSantis more than 10 weeks ago to grant them special flexibility under state law “as soon as possible” in case poll workers refuse to show up or landlords decline to open polling places.
He didn’t respond.
With the Aug. 18 primary looming, elections officials say they’ve yet to hear from DeSantis on whether he’ll issue an emergency executive order extending early voting and allowing for the consolidation of polling places, among other changes. Instead, as new coronavirus cases increase to record levels across the state, supervisors say they’re preparing for the start of voting with limited ability to respond to another outbreak.
“It’s undeniable that the inaction is severely limiting our planning for the upcoming elections,” said Brian Corley, elections supervisor in Pasco County, a Gulf Coast county of about 375,000 voters. “We are doing everything in our power to make it work but not having the latitude to be innovative with the goal of providing access and safe voting for all voters is something that currently keeps me up at night.”
The Florida Division of Elections is expected to lock in ballots Friday, setting off a two-week period during which supervisors will rush dozens of ballot designs to printers and prepare to send them out in the mail, starting July 3 with overseas addresses. Early voting is currently set to begin exactly one month later, as early as Aug. 3.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article243598537.html
Just a preview of what to expect in Florida this November.
= new reply since forum marked as read
