'Devastating': Florida Republicans worried about 2022 as they crafted election law

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republicans this spring insisted a contentious new election law curtailing access to ballot boxes was needed to prevent electoral fraud. It was not, they said, an attempt to gain a partisan advantage.

But a raft of internal emails and text messages obtained by POLITICO show the law was drafted with the help of the Republican Party of Florida’s top lawyer — and that a crackdown on mail-in ballot requests was seen as a way for the GOP to erase the edge that Democrats had in mail-in voting during the 2020 election. The messages undercut the consistent argument made by Republicans that the new law was about preventing future electoral fraud.

The law — labeled “Jim Crow 2.0” by some Democrats — was passed at the strong urging of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill at an exclusive event aired by Fox News. It advanced even as local election officials, including Republicans, criticized the measure after running a trouble-free election in 2020. One official went so far as to call it “slap in the face” while one north Florida supervisor recently told DeSantis he was resigning at the end of this month in part to oppose “continuous changes” in election laws.

Florida was just one of several GOP-controlled states that enacted voting restrictions in the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s loss and his unsubstantiated complaints about voter fraud, although it isn’t as restrictive as laws passed in Georgia and Texas. When debating the bill in the waning moments of this year’s legislative session, Republican Party of Florida chair and state Sen. Joe Gruters repeatedly said the bill would “make it as easy as possible to vote, and hard as possible to cheat.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/09/20/devastating-florida-republicans-worried-about-2022-as-they-crafted-election-law-1391121

[AllaN01Bear]

1. blew up in their face , eh?

[monkeyman1]

2. republican's sure can shovel shit with the best of them !

[Evolve Dammit]

3. If this was the lead story tonight I would sleep better. Should be damning. Will it make the news?

[LonePirate]

4. This is a nothingburger. FL is moving right just a little slower than TX is moving left.

Like it or not but FL is off the table as far as statewide elections occur, be it for Governor, Senator or President. The recent changes in the law will not impede the state’s rightward shift.

[BradAllison]

6. I agree

Although Deathsentence willingly killing his base might do some harm.

[TheRealNorth]

7. Covid gives me hope.... when it comes to FL

[modrepub]

5. The Best Way To Motivate People To Vote

is to tell them they can't

That said, FL democrats need to help people make sure they are registered to vote and that they show up in November, whether its in person or making people understand how to properly request, fill-out and mail in their ballot. They also need to amplify any shenanigans these bast-rds are stooping to to prevent people from voting.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. K&R