Checking in on a Major Voting Rights Trial in Florida

Good news out of Florida last week: the state supreme court approved a ballot measure giving Floridians a chance to vote to protect abortion rights in November.

A trial also got underway last week that will determine what voting rights people have when they participate in that election.

There couldn’t be a better example of the fact that, as Vice President Harris said, “voting is the fundamental freedom that unlocks all other freedoms.”

Here’s how the trial could impact people’s ability to vote for the abortion amendment and other races:

Last year, Ron DeSantis signed a voter suppression law cracking down on voters’ ability to ask for help from friends, neighbors, and nonprofit groups when trying to register and vote. Too bad if you face a language barrier, get confused by government forms, or don’t have access to a printer: if you want to vote in Florida, you’re on your own.

Voter Registration

If nonprofit groups want to help people register, Florida treats them like giant banks or big pharma companies: they have to register with the state, follow a complex set of contradictory rules, and pay up to $250,000 if they make a mistake.

The result? Testimony last week showed that rather than risk penalties, groups are leaving town.

Officials cited a dramatic decrease in registration activity, particularly in communities of color who come together around elections. Experts anticipate a decrease in Hispanic participation in the November election, and the NAACP has stopped registration in the state.

Mail-in Voting

This week, the trial will turn to parts of the law that attack mail-in voting.

Floridians have long turned to neighbors, caretakers, or nonprofit groups for help requesting mail-in ballots (41% of Floridians voted by mail in 2020).

Under the new law, voters can only ask an immediate family member to help submit their mail ballot request form. Don’t have family nearby? You’re on your own.

What Makes America Great?

The trial in Tallahassee should wrap by Friday.

In the meantime, laws like this are a triple threat: they disenfranchise voters, impact the results of elections, and tear at the interstitial tissue of democracy by further isolating us from one another.

It reminds me of this dude on Twitter/X mocking the idea of traveling for the eclipse:

The right to vote is an individual right. Healthcare decisions are personal decisions. At the same time, part of the idea of a democracy is that without social cohesion, none of us will make it very far alone.

So why shouldn’t we see the eclipse with friends? Why not help our neighbors vote? I’d bet my savings account that this Twitter dude’s parents and grandparents got together with friends and neighbors to celebrate the 1976 bicentennial. What’s the difference?

Attacks on voting and democracy will bend social cohesion to its breaking point in 2024. So stick together. Reach out to friends and neighbors. Remind them they’re not on their own.

And make sure they’re registered to vote!