Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a voting bill in the state into law on Thursday morning, making his state the latest GOP-leaning state to enact voting changes after the 2020 presidential election.
DeSantis, a Republican, said live on “Fox & Friends” that the new law would continue to keep things like mail voting accessible while also protecting election integrity.
“I have what we think is the strongest election integrity measures in the country,” DeSantis said. “We’re making sure we’re enforcing voter ID… We’re also banning ballot harvesting. We’re not gonna let political operatives go and get satchels of votes to dump them in some drop box.”
DeSantis added: “We’re also prohibiting mass mailing of balloting. We’ve had absentee voting in Florida for a long time. You request the ballot. You get it. And you mail it in. But to just indiscriminately send them out is not a recipe for success.”
HOUSE DEMS GUNNING FOR STATEWIDE OFFICES PUT PARTY’S CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITY IN JEOPARDY
The bill takes an omnibus approach, addressing many issues at once, similar to the approach of an election law that Georgia enacted earlier this year.
Also among its provisions is a “prohibition on the use of private funds for election-related expenses,” which is a response to the fact Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and others provided funding to some states and cities last year to help run the election.
Those groups said their goal was simply to help increase voter turnout and assist stressed government agencies. But some Republicans said the funding was targeted at blue areas, therefore potentially favoring Democrats.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The bill also allows drop boxes but with some restrictions.
“Drop boxes bust be geographically located so as to provide all voters in the county with an equal opportunity to cast a ballot” and “must be monitored in person.”