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SPLC Action Fund: Florida SB 90 Based on "Deadly, Dangerous Lies and...White Supremacist Rhetoric"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The full Florida Senate voted 23-17 to pass SB 90 today, an anti-voter bill that would, among other provisions, criminalize giving “any item to a voter” in line – like food and water – and require voters who have moved within state to fill out an additional voter registration form by paper or online instead of the process now which is simply to call or email a county Supervisor of Elections.  

The following statement is by Carrie Boyd, policy counsel for Florida for the SPLC Action Fund

“In the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic still harming every corner of the state, certain Florida legislators and Governor DeSantis’s primary objectives this legislative session weren’t to meet voters' needs and protect public health, provide economic support to businesses and families, and strengthen democratic systems. 

“Instead, some Florida legislators and Governor DeSantis have aimed an arrow at the heart of democracy in Florida both in the ability to peacefully protest politicians’ actions and in accessing the ballot box to fire those politicians. They have used deadly, dangerous lies and – candidly – white supremacist rhetoric about grassroots movements and election processes to justify their actions. 

“Either SB 90 or a just-as-baseless bill HB 7041 are on glide-paths to passage in the Florida Legislature this week, and Governor DeSantis has promised his signature on any anti-voter, obstacle-filled bill that reaches his desk.   

“It’s a near-certainty that without public, advocate, and business outcry, an anti-voter law will join now-law HB 1, which criminalizes expression of Floridians’ basic First Amendment rights. If these anti-voter bills are challenged for violating basic constitutional rights, Florida will be required to spend millions to defend unconstitutional and anti-democracy laws.” 

To see Carrie's op-ed in the Naples Daily News​​​​​​​ based on previous iterations of SB 90 and HB 7041, please visit: 

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/opinion/2021/04/09/florida-lawmakers-staying-ahead-curve-voting-access-going-back-jim-crow/7154851002/