Florida Continues to Lead the Nation in Strengthening Election Integrity Laws

NAPLES, FL—Florida is leading the way for the second year in a row on election integrity thanks to the strong leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature. Senate Bill 524, which passed the Florida Senate today, is the latest achievement in the ongoing effort to ensure that future elections are protected by commonsense reforms. S.B. 524 includes provisions that:

  • establish an Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Florida Department of State to investigate and defer matters for prosecution against alleged occurrences of election law violations or irregularities; 
  • move toward ID requirements for absentee vote-by-mail ballots;
  • prohibit ranked-choice voting;
  • clean voter rolls;
  • create harsher penalties for ballot harvesters; 
  • discourage non-citizen voting, illegal signature collection practices for ballot initiative petitions, and premature disclosure(s) of election results; and
  • strengthen last year’s ban to prohibit private funding of elections (Zuckerbucks ban).

“This session, Senator Travis Hutson and Representative Danny Perez have led the charge in further restoring faith and transparency in the Sunshine State’s elections,” said Amanda Prater, State Government Affairs Manager at the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). “While Florida is already known for running a tight ship when it comes to elections, Governor DeSantis and Secretary of State Lee continue to push to make the process the best that it can be.” 

Last year, Florida passed Senate Bill 90, which enforces voter ID, prevents ballot harvesting, secures drop boxes, prohibits the private funding of elections, and helps ensure that voter rolls are up to date and accurate for each election. 

FGA applauds Florida for going above and beyond to strengthen the democratic process with S.B. 524. This legislation is another example of what states can do to secure their elections and protect voters’ voices.

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The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) is a non-profit, multi-state think tank that promotes public policy solutions to create opportunities for every American to experience the American Dream. To learn more, visit TheFGA.org.