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Florida Sets Gold Standard For Election Integrity Laws

Integridad Electoral de Florida, El American

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When Ron DeSantis signed into law, on Thursday May 6th, S.B.90, the Florida governor was not exaggerating when he said that the Sunshine’s State’s new electoral law contains the “strongest election integrity measures in the country.”

Florida joins Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Iowa, and Texas in having approved election reform laws. A host of other states which include Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan have pending legislation and are setting the stage for enacting electoral law adjustments that seek, as well, to keep elections fair, free, and establish a hindrance for cheaters. These integrity measures attempt to make sure that state legislatures are not circumvented in the redaction of this exclusive constitutional function and that the irregularities-laden, de facto universal mail-in voting does not bring into question the legitimacy of an American election again. 

A model for America

What makes the Florida law stand out is its comprehensive focus towards the objective of standardizing electoral system credibility and veracity. S. B. 90 addresses two major problems inherent in the circuitousness 2020 election. The Sunshine State’s enacted legislation concentrates on limiting the possibility for voter fraud stemming from invalid or illegal mail-in ballots, unmonitored drop-off boxes, questionable voter authenticity, third-party ballot manipulation (ballot harvesting), unsolicited mass ballot mailings, and contaminated voter rolls. This is done through a multifaceted approach which does not restrict a citizen’s access to vote, by mail or in person, it only apply basic standards of identification validation. 


S. B. 90 goes further in cracking down on the questionable practice of allowing mega private entities to bypass campaign finance limits by contributing funds capriciously to cherry-picked partisan counties, thus favoring one party and candidate over another. Florida’s election integrity law prohibits the use of private money for the election process. Facebook’s Chairman, Mark Zuckerberg, contributed $500 million to preselected Democratic Party dominated districts to assist in the 2020 election. This most arguably circumvents election finance laws which establishes spending limits and potentially violates the Constitution’s equal protection clauses.

The left is furious. Perhaps they have good reason to. After all the Florida version of a lawful system to avert election fraud contains seminal factors that make it comprehensive in its integrity effort. This could explain why headlines across America’s left-wing media outlets, in symmetric unison, are crying foul and mischaracterizing it. The Hill, one of many media publications which are presenting the news of Florida’s sweeping landmark legislation in a misleading way, contained this disingenuous title, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs election restriction bill”.   

The left has launched an assault by way of a magnitude of lawsuits against Florida, in reaction to the S. B. 90. This is typically the course followed when the constitutionally assigned and democratically elected entities make public policy. If the left does not agree with, they sue in the hopes that activist judges will overturn the legislative process. Left-wing organizations like the 

League of Women Voters of Florida, Black Voters Matter Fund, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), Disability Rights Florida and Common Cause have all joined the reactionary bandwagon to attempt to invert the will of Floridians. 

Election Integrity Law, El American
“The reason for the European distaste for mail-in voting schemes is simple. It facilitates fraud”.

Is there any truth to the concerns of those opposed to the requirement of proper identification to vote or request a mail-in ballot? Is mail-in voting more prone to cheating? Supporters of election protection measures consider, after all, the idea of a “restriction” as an impediment as something causally related to limiting ballot wrongdoing, not valid vote suppression. The left loves to establish parallels with Europe. 

The norm in the European Union (EU) is clear. 63% of Europe has a ban on mailing in ballots except for its citizens who reside overseas. Even for those who live outside the country, 22% of the EU has extended a ban to even that group. France, as early as 1975 banned absentee voting. It made an exception for the sick during the pandemic (photo ID a must). In fact, most of Europe’s democracies ban mail-in absentee voting altogether, except for those who reside abroad. For those that have special medical conditions and request an absentee ballot (where allowed), a photo identification is mandatory across the old continent.   

The reason for the European distaste for mail-in voting schemes is simple. It facilitates fraud. Florida has tackled two of the biggest nemeses of fair and free elections: mail voting irregularities and private, partisan money to dishevel the election playing field. DeSantis could not have expressed it better when he said, “Elections should be free and fair, and these changes will ensure this continues to be the case in the Sunshine State.” 

Julio M Shiling, political scientist, writer, director of Patria de Martí and The Cuban American Voice, lecturer and media commentator. A native of Cuba, he currently lives in the United States. Twitter: @JulioMShiling // Julio es politólogo, escritor, director de Patria de Martí y The Cuban American Voice. Conferenciante y comentarista en los medios. Natural de Cuba, vive actualmente en EE UU.

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