Proposed voting changes in Florida are causing alarm for some elections experts.Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans in the Florida Legislature are joining other states calling for changes after millions of voters opted to vote by mail during the pandemic.
University of Florida Political Science Professor Michael McDonald told First Coast Connecthost Melissa Ross Thursday that it’s a troubling trend.
He said Republicans spent millions in the last election encouraging their supporters to vote by mail. Now, McDonald says they want to back things down.
“They want to do away with this semi-permanent absentee list that we have in Florida because they are now fearful that it’s going to help Democrats, something that they enacted to help Republicans.”
McDonald said as long as there is a perception of potential voter fraud, the bill might become law and the Supreme Court may agree.
Democrats have called the proposed changes “voter suppression” and many county supervisors of elections supervisors oppose the legislation.
County election officials oppose it. Experts say it will “disproportionately” harm Black and Hispanic voters.
The entire interview with Michael McDonald is available on Thursday’s First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, which encores at 8 p.m. on WJCT News 89.9.
Michelle Corum can be reached at mcorum@wjct.org, 904-358-6308 or on Twitter at @MCorumonME.
