Florida needs federal dollars to boost election safety and security

More On: COVID-19

We’ve seen what happens when you hold an election during a pandemic without taking the necessary precautions. In Wisconsin, voters were sent to the polls in the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. Health officials there say they can trace dozens of cases to the elections. Here in Florida in our March primary, we had poll …

Here in Florida in our March primary, we had poll workers who contracted the virus. Hundreds of poll workers didn’t show up on Election Day because they didn’t feel safe. Some of our most dedicated voters and poll workers are our senior citizens, the ones at most risk of contracting COVID-19.

With experts warning that another outbreak this fall is possible, we must do everything we can to ensure both poll workers and voters are kept safe while voting. That starts with every Floridian having the option to vote by mail. Florida can prepare for that by requesting the $20 million in federal funds available through the CARES Act stimulus to protect elections.

Yet Florida is one of six states that has yet to request the funding.

This isn’t partisan. It doesn’t benefit only Democrats or Republicans. It benefits every Floridian that we make it safe and easy to vote in the August primary and the November general elections.

Nicole “Nikki” Fried, a Democrat, serves as Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.(Courtesy of Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.)

Our Supervisors of Elections are asking for this money, which would be dedicated solely to COVID-19 related expenses, including more vote-by-mail ballots, return postage, and the necessary sanitary items for in-person voting.

Last week, I urged Governor Ron DeSantis to request this money without further delay.

I believe that if COVID-19 continues to spread, the ability of Floridians being able to exercise their constitutional right to vote will be threatened. Public health experts agree. He should take immediate action to secure the $20 million that is available to Florida and use it to expand vote-by-mail.

I’m not alone in this request. State lawmakers as well as Congressional Democrats and Republicans, led by Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, have also urged the Governor to immediately request these funds.

This is something that every citizen of both major parties can get behind in Florida.

Meanwhile, the President is urging his party to fight hard against expanding vote by mail. We can only hope that Governor DeSantis doesn’t follow his lead.

A Stanford University study shows that neither party benefits from universal vote by mail, and concludes that “vote-by-mail offers voters considerable convenience, increases turnout rates modestly, but has no discernible effect on party vote shares or the partisan share of the electorate.”

Our August primary election is less than 100 days away. The clock is ticking to secure the elections fundamental to our democracy.

Every person should feel safe when they exercise their right to vote this fall. We need the Governor to act now to ensure our Supervisors of Elections have the resources to make that possible.