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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, last Thursday, gave the go-ahead for a GOP election integrity law that limits absentee voting and how many drop boxes will be used.
While signing the measure, Florida s Republican governor said it would put the state ahead in the race to prevent vote-rigging. Right now, I have what we think are the country s strongest election integrity laws, he said. We re also banning the harvesting of votes. We re not going to allow political hacks to go out there and grab satchels of votes to dump in a drop box, reported The Epoch Times.
Texas Democrats Fought GOP Voter Suppression Bill Through the Night
Voters approach the door at a polling location on October 13, 2020, in Austin, Texas.
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Texas House Republicans passed a voter suppression bill early Friday morning despite a tough fight put up by Democrats, who offered over 130 amendments from late Thursday into the night.
Democrats were able to water down the bill, SB 7, and cut into some of the most punitive proposals, but the final vision retained restrictive proposals like limiting ballot drop boxes and prohibiting counties from sending unsolicited absentee ballots.
The House voted at 3 am to advance the bill, which contained 20 of the provisions proposed by Democrats, who had slim chances of outright stopping the bill. Texas’ House is controlled by Republicans by a wide margin; the bill passed 81-64.
Gov. DeSantis signs controversial new election law making it harder for some Floridians to vote
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Six months after a record-breaking 11.1 million Floridians voted in a well-run, widely praised election, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Thursday that will make it harder for some people to vote in future elections.
He touted the law as a fraud-fighting measure – even though neither he nor other supporters came up with any examples of fraud from recent Florida elections that needed any remedies.
DeSantis signed the measure into law at a political rally in West Palm Beach, arranged so he could take the action during the Fox News Channel morning show “Fox & Friends.” Hundreds of DeSantis supporters attended the event. Florida news reporters and photographers were excluded.
DeSantis signed the legislation live on Fox News, shutting out local media who had planned to cover the ceremony. Florida Republicans passed the measure on near party-line votes over the objection of civil rights groups and over the opposition of all 67 of the state’s county supervisors of elections.
The measure would limit voter access to absentee ballot drop boxes used by most Florida counties, and it would require voters who want to cast absentee ballots to submit new requests every election cycle, rather than every four years. It will also ban anyone other than election workers from distributing food or water to anyone waiting in line within 150 feet of a polling place.