DeSantis says he’s likely to allow supervisors of elections to make changes in light of Helene

Photo by CD Davidson-Hiers/Florida PhoenixGov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that his administration will likely “be doing something” shortly in response to requests from supervisors of elections to allow changes to accommodate voters post Hurricane Helene, with just under five weeks before Election Day.

David Ramba, executive director for the Florida Supervisors of Elections (FSE), asked the governor in a letter Tuesday to issue an executive order to allow supervisors of elections in 10 counties affected by the storm to make changes regarding polling locations, drop boxes, and voting by mail ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

In addition, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus contacted Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews over the weekend with a similar request for flexibility.

Preliminary evaluations following the unprecedented amounts of storm surge in Pinellas “indicate that up to 40 polling locations may have sustained significant damage and could require relocation,” Marcus said.

“We’ll look at all the different requests,” DeSantis said while speaking at a press conference in Madeira Beach in Pinellas County.

“When [Hurricane] Ian hit at the end of 2022 that was at the end of September. We had an election coming up in November, and we were able to make some accommodations and so, I think, we will be doing something. The question is what, and I gotta look, I gotta vet it, but we’re going to basically continue to be consistent with what we’ve done in past practice.”

In October 2022, two weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, DeSantis issued an executive order for Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties to extend the number of days for early voting and designate additional early voting locations.

That order allowed voters in those counties to request by phone that their vote-by-mail ballot be mailed to an address other than their address of record; designate and provide notice of the locations for drop boxes; move and consolidate polling locations as necessary; and increase the pool of eligible poll workers in those three counties.

Possible changes

The request for changes came from supervisors in Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Taylor counties.

Among those requested changes are:

Suspending certain deadlines and restrictions to establish additional early voting sites and extension of early voting days, such as to the Monday before Election Day (which isn’t allowed now.)

Moving or consolidating polling locations, which will “provide the necessary flexibility to adjust locations and maintain access to voting even with polling place locations still being impacted as general election voting begins.” They also want permission to use a mobile unit to accommodate a specific polling location.

Regarding vote-by-mail ballots: The supervisors seek a waiver from the requirement that a voter submit a signed, written request for a vote-by-mail ballot in the affected counties. “Given the current conditions, the impact of Hurricane Helene has left vast areas of the Affected Counties without power, reliable internet, cellular or telephone service, or mail delivery. Additionally, faxing, scanning, or emailing may also not be available to voters of the Affected Counties,” the letter reads.

Regarding drop boxes: The supervisors want permission to designate the location of a secure ballot “intake station” (drop box) with reduced notice periods and flexibility for providing notice of those locations.

Regarding poll worker training: The supervisors want the governor to waive the requirement that a poll worker be a registered voter of the county in which he or she is appointed, allowing experienced poll workers in other counties to qualify in any of the 10 counties listed.

DeSantis added that although he hasn’t looked at the specific request, he knows that Byrd will review the proposals and give him a recommendation. “So, you may very well see something done relatively soon if there is something that needs to be done,” he said.

A request for comment from the Division of Elections was not immediately returned.