Secretary of State Ken Detzner imposed new rules for absentee ballots. (Photo courtesy of Ken Detzner.)
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner has instituted new restrictions for how people can return completed absentee ballots. The directive has already concerned some local election supervisors, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida says the order “restricts Floridians’ ability to participate in our democracy.” According to The Tampa Bay Times:
The two-page order, officially called a “directive,” was issued by Secretary of State Ken Detzner. But election supervisors are elected constitutional officers, so it is unclear whether they would be legally obligated to obey it. Detzner has the authority to sue a supervisor who he believes is not following the election code.
In it, Detzner said his office “has been asked for clarification” on the return of absentees, but he didn’t say by whom. He wrote: “Supervisors should not solicit return of absentee ballots at any place other than a supervisor’s office, except for the purpose of having the absentee ballot cancelled if the voter wants to vote in person.” Detzner noted that another part of the elections code instructs voters to mail absentee ballots to supervisors’ offices.
In some, mostly larger, counties election officials set up drop-off locations in different spots. With this directive in place, those would be shut down. Nancy Abudu, the ACLU of Florida’s Director of Legal Operations, said in a statement:
“We are always concerned whenever there are new voting restrictions that make it more difficult for supervisors of elections to do their jobs and more difficult for Floridians to vote Given this administration’s record of attacks on Floridians’ right to vote, we are concerned that this directive restricts Floridians’ ability to participate in our democracy.”
“Absentee voting has allowed many people – those with mobility restrictions, people whose work schedules require them to work on Election Day, active-duty military – to make their voices heard in our elections. Some supervisors have opened multiple drop-off sites to make absentee voting even easier. If Secretary Detzner had his way, those would be shut down.
“The good news for supervisors of elections is that Secretary Detzner’s directive is not binding. Instead, it is up to them to decide what is best for the voters in their respective counties. We encourage every county supervisor of elections to continue all legally available efforts to increase voter turnout and eliminate needless roadblocks for voters.”
In Florida, the bulk of issues with ballots during last year’s election happened with absentee ballots. In 2012, several people were arrested – mostly in Miami-Dade– for illegally stockpiling ballots. However, even as state lawmakers sought to fix many of the state’s voting issues this year, absentee ballot laws got little-to-no attention.