Florida Republicans considering new election bill that would effectively ban giving voters water [View all]

[DonViejo]

Similar to a provision in Georgia's new election law, it's one of a number of proposals moving through the state's GOP-controlled Legislature.

March 29, 2021, 11:23 AM EDT
By Jane C. Timm

Florida Republicans are considering a bill that would effectively make it a crime to give voters food or drink, including water, within 150 feet of polling places.

State law currently prohibits campaigning within 100 feet of polling locations, but an elections bill introduced last week, H.B. 7041, expands that zone to 150 feet and includes a prohibition on giving “any item” to voters or “interacting or attempting to interact” with voters within that zone.

State Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican from Spring Hill, said in a committee meeting last Monday that the ban would include “food or beverages.”

The proposal is similar to a measure in Georgia’s sweeping new election law that bans giving water, food or gifts to voters waiting in line, among many other restrictions. President Joe Biden, in condemning Georgia's law as “outrageous” and “Jim Crow in the 21st Century," singled out that provision as evidence of suppressive intent in a state he flipped blue for the first time in decades.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/florida-republicans-considering-new-election-bill-would-effectively-ban-giving-n1262297