GOP enacts election reform in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis said a bill he signed on Thursday would help safeguard elections in part by strengthening voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots. He noted that ID is already required to vote in person. The measure also bans the mass mailing and harvesting of absentee ballots. “We’re not going to let political operatives go, get satchels of votes, and dump them in some dropbox,” DeSantis said.

Has the law sparked controversy? Democrats say the new measures aren’t about election security at all. They charge it’s an effort to make it tougher for minorities to vote. Several groups immediately vowed to challenge the law in court. Critics also worry it will make voting tougher for handicapped voters. The law does allow an electoral good Samaritan to collect and return the ballots of immediate family and up to two ballots from people who are unrelated.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about the reaction to a similar law passed in Georgia this year.