Florida’s recent hurricanes could make it difficult for voters in affected counties to cast ballots in the upcoming election unless Gov. Ron DeSantis steps down and changes some rules, county election supervisors said in a letter to state officials.
In a six-page letter sent Tuesday by the supervisors association to Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, who oversees elections, the group said Hurricane Helen and Milton have destroyed polling stations and left some of their employees, voters and election officials homeless.
Most of the affected counties are on the Gulf Coast, where both storms caused extensive damage.
Association Executive Director David Ramba listed 10 modifications for DeSantis to consider, including giving extra time to set up early voting sites and drop boxes, giving voters flexibility in requesting mail-in ballots and waiving training for some election officials. State law gives the governor the power to change voting rules after hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Florida is expecting a big turnout as voters will vote not only on the president and Senate, but also on proposals that would legalize marijuana and repeal the state’s recently enacted ban on abortions six weeks after conception. Early voting begins Monday in some Florida counties, and most mail-in ballots have already been sent out. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is next week.
Ryan Cox, Ramba’s deputy, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that state election supervisors would be able to open their precincts and vote if they were given some flexibility. While Florida has long had a reputation as a national laughingstock for its election woes, starting with the 2000 presidential recount, the 2020 and 2022 elections have been largely uneventful.
“These supervisors are very, very, very good at working with what they need,” Cox said. “They’re very good at making decisions very quickly and changing their plan to make sure that every single person who wants to vote has the opportunity to do so.”
The group’s letter listed multiple Florida counties that suffered “significant damage” after Hurricanes Helena and Milton, with multiple mentions of counties around Tampa Bay: Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas and Pasco. The letter noted that numerous polling stations were “destroyed or rendered inaccessible due to flooding and structural damage.”
Byrd’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday on whether the state would provide flexibility or accommodations. Byrd was appointed by DeSantis.
After Helena, DeSantis issued an executive order allowing counties to make changes to early voting sites and ease restrictions on voting by mail. But he denied the supervisors’ request to extend the voter registration deadline to Oct. 7. They said the extension was needed because some areas had been cleaned up by Helene while also preparing for Milton.
Amy Keith, executive director of the Florida voting advocacy group Common Cause, said she and other groups have also sent a letter to DeSantis and Byrd asking them to extend the registration deadline because of the storms and make other arrangements for voting in affected counties.
“I am extremely concerned that during this election, things will be much more difficult for voters and their families who are still recovering from the catastrophic damage of the two record-breaking storms,” Keith said.
