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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis went on Fox and Friends Thursday morning to sign into law a controversial voting restrictions bill passed last week by Florida lawmakers.
The bill signing was closed to local media.
The GOP-backed legislation, which the governor has also been a vocal supporter of, places new limits on ballot drop boxes, among other things.
“Florida took action this legislative session to increase transparency and strengthen the security of our elections,” said DeSantis.
Critics of the bill have called the measure a piece of voter suppression. Democratic lawmakers have said SB 90 would make it harder for seniors, people of color, and individuals with disabilities to vote.
The new law changes Florida’s vote-by-mail system. Some of those changes include restricting dropbox use to a county’s early voting hours rather than allowing ballots to be dropped off 24/7, making in-person monitoring of all dropbox locations mandatory, as well as a whole host of other security measures for vote-by-mail. Voters would also be required to submit vote-by-mail requests every election cycle instead of every two cycles.
Another change made mimics the new GOP-backed voter laws in Georgia, limiting who can hand out any item, including food or water or election-related material, to voters waiting in line.
At least two lawsuits have already been filed – within minutes of DeSantis signing the bill.
